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TRAVERS' GOLF BOOK 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON « CHICAGO 
DALLAS • ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limitbd 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THB MACMILLAN CO. OP CANADA. Ltd. 

TORONTO 




Photograph Copyrighted by the American Press Association 



^^^^,A^^^-^^^^t(_ //. tA'^i^'CA^^ 



TRAVERS' 
GOLF BOOK 



BY 



JEROME D. TRAVERS 

Amateur Champion of the United States, 1907, 1908 and igi2 



WITH FORTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1913 



GRVq(D5 



COPVEIGHT, I913, BV 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 



Set up and electrotyped. Published May , 1913 



Printed by J. J. Little & Ives Co., New York 



'CU346808 



PREFACE 

SINCE the day I first won the cham- 
pionship of the United States, in 
1907, I have been asked by scores of 
golfers to write a book relating my ex- 
periences and explaining my method of 
playing the different shots. This I have 
endeavored to do to the best of my ability 
in the following pages. I have made 
it a point to impart the information at 
my command in the simplest possible 
manner so that both the novice and the 
more experienced player may readily un- 
derstand. I have used carefully posed 
photographs explaining grip, stance, top 
of swing and follow through instead of 
abstruse charts and diagrams that are 
more apt to puzzle than enlighten the 



GOLF BOOK 

golfer. I have laid particular stress 
upon the points that I consider to be of 
greatest importance, and have striven to 
make each golf picture with its accom- 
panying text a golf lesson in itself. If 
the experienced player find matter that 
seems trite and familiar to him, he must 
remember that this book is written for 
the novice as well as for the man who is 
more or less expert. My hope, too, is 
that even the expert, when he is "ofif his 
game," may be helped to correct his 
faults and get back into form again 
through the instrumentality of these 
pages. If this book be of genuine assist- 
ance to those endeavoring to learn the 
game, and if it be even a small factor in 
arousing increased interest in the most 
beneficial and enjoyable of sports, I shall 
be content. In conclusion, I attribute my 

own success as an amateur golfer to the 
vi 



PREFACE 

fact that I took up the game at an early 
age and devoted a great deal of time to it, 
and to the additional fact that I was in- 
structed by Alex. Smith, the well-known 
professional. 

Also, I wish to thank Mr. Earle 
Hooker Eaton for the assistance he has 
given me in the preparation of this book. 
Jerome D. Travers. 

April 4, 1913. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. My First Home Course . . . . i 



II. Alex. Smith Becomes My Tutor 

III. Douglas and Travis .... 

IV. The Ball in the Indian's Pocket . 
V. Winning the Metropolitan 

VI. My First National Championship . 

VII. How to Learn to Play Golf . 

VIII. Practical Points About the Drive . 

IX. The Drive (Continued) 

X. How to Play the Brassie . 

XI. How to Play the Cleek 

XII. The Golfer's Favorite Club, the Mid 

Iron 



XIII. The Usefulness of the Jigger . 

XIV. Mastering the Difficult Mashie . 

XV. When and How to Play the Mashie 
Niblick 

XVI. Putting, a Test of Nerve . 

XVII. Bunker Shots and How to Play Them 



15 

23 
29 

39 
57 
70 

91 
106 
124 

134 
147 

157 

165 
174 
186 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XVIII. Psychology of Golf 194 

XIX. Why the Business Man Should Play 

Golf 207 

XX. Holes in One and Other Remarkable 

Shots 218 

XXI. The Etiquette of Golf . . . .228 
XXII. First Aid to the Golfer "Off His Game " 234 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

JEROME D. TRAVERS Frontispiece, i' 

PLATE PAGE 

I. The Havemeyer Cup 44 ' 

II. Finish of the Evans-Travers Match for the Cham- 
pionship 56 

III. My Grip for the Drive 72 

IV. My Grip for the Drive, Second View 74 ^ 

V. Stance for the Drive 74 • 

VI. Stance for the Drive, Front View 77 . 

VII. Top of Swing for the Drive 79 

VIII. Follow Through of the Drive 82 

IX. Finish of the Drive, Front View 86 

X. Address for a Brassie Shot 106 

XI. Stance for the Brassie, Side View no 

XII. Follow Through with the Brassie 114 

XIII. Incorrect Top of Swing with the Brassie . . . . 118 

XIV. Stance for a Hanging Lie with the Brassie . . . . 122 
XV. Address with Cleek 127 

XVI. Address with Cleek, Side View 123 

XVII. Top of Swing with the Cleek 131 

XVIII. Address for a Mid-Iron Shot 134 

XIX. Top of Swing of Mid-Iron Shot 136 

XX. Finish and Follow Through of Mid-Iron Shot . . 141 

XXI. How the Club should Turn Away from the Ball . . 143 

XXII. Address for Jigger Shot of about 140 Yards . . 147 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PLATE PAGE 

XXIII. Top of Swing for Jigger Shot 147 

XXIV. Incorrect Top of Swing with Jigger 148 

XXV. Finish of a Shot with the Jigger 150 

XXVI. Address for Chip Shot with Mid-Iron or Jigger . . 152 

XXVII. Top of Swing for Chip Shot 154 

XXVIII. Finish of Chip Shot with Jigger 154 

XXIX. Grip for the Mashie 157 

XXX. Mashie Grip, Back View 159 

XXXI. Stance for the Mashie 162 

XXXII. Address for a Mashie Shot, Side View 162 

XXXIII. Top of Swing with the Mashie 162 

XXXIV. Finish of Swing with the Mashie 164 

XXXV. Finish of Mashie Shot, Front View 167 

XXXVI. Top of Swing with the Niblick 168 

XXXVII. Back View oi Top of Swing with the Niblick . . 168 

XXXVIII. Finish of Mashie Niblick Shot out of Bunker 170 

XXXIX. Finish of Another Mashie Niblick Shot . . . . 173 

XL. Putting Grip, Front View 175 

XLI. Putting Grip, Showing Interlocked Fingers . . 177 

XLII. Stance for Putting 178 

XLIII. Finish of Putt, Ball Entering Hole 178 

XLIV. Address for Lofting a Stymie with the Mashie . . 180 

XLV. Lofting a Stymie 182 

XL VI. Lofting a Stymie, Ball Entering Hole 182 

DIAGRAM. Three Positions for Driving 77 



TRAVERS' GOLF BOOK 



GOLF BOOK 

CHAPTER I 
MY FIRST HOME COURSE 

I STARTED playing golf on my fa- 
ther's country estate at Oyster 
Bay, Long Island, when I was nine years 
old. My brother had a set of golf clubs 
and made me a present of a mid-iron and On the 
some balls. I had watched my brother 
and my cousins play and the game made 
a strong appeal to my boyish fancy the 
very first time I saw them swing their 
clubs. I was too young to even think of 
practicing on a real golf links, and I 
naturally commenced knocking the balls 
about on the back lawn of my father's 
place. 

A windmill stood about one hundred 
I 



GOLF BOOK 

yards from the house, and when I began 
playing on my first "home course," I 
was unable to drive a ball from the wind- 
mill to the house. Day after day I swung 
my mid-iron with all my might in efforts 
to cover the full distance, but I was only 
nine and the old gutta percha ball was by 
no means as lively as the present day 
rubber-cored ball, and failure crowned 
every attempt. 

I spent the following winter at school 

My Drive in New York, and I must have gained a 

mproves gj-g^^ ^je^j jj^ Strength because when 

spring came I teed up my first ball at 
the windmill and, much to my own sur- 
prise as well as that of the family, cov- 
ered the hundred yards so successfully 
that I put the ball through one of the 
dining-room windows. I was naturally 
much elated over this evidence of pro- 
gress, but when my father returned home 



MY FIRST HOME COURSE 

that night he did not seem as enthusiastic - 
about the feat as I was. I was punished 
and told to play on the front lawn where 
there was more space and where there 
would be less likelihood of smashed win- 
dow-panes. 

On the front lawn I laid out a golf 
course of my own. John D. Rockefeller 
has since done the same thing, and I hope 
he has had as much fun on his private The Oak 
course as I had on mine. The first hole ^^^ ° ^ 
of my three-hole course was about 150 
yards. I would tee up near a flagpole in 
front of the house and play to an oak 
tree which it was necessary for me to hit 
in order to *'hole out." The tree was 
guarded by a bank about two feet high 
and a road, both of which made a very 
fine hazard. Getting out of trouble with 
a mid-iron was a sore trial, and many a 
time I longed to possess a niblick. 
3 



GOLF BOOK 

Gdf With- The second hole was from the oak tree 
to another tree which stood in the right- 
hand corner of the lawn, about i8o yards 
away. The trunk of this second tree was 
very narrow and hitting it with the ball 
was by no means an easy matter. In 
fact, it was the longest and most difficult 
hole on the course. I fear that I played 
a rather loose game in those days, be- 
cause when I was guilty of a bad drive 
I would make a new start and not count 
the first shot. 

The third hole was from the narrow 
tree back to the flagpole, which, as in the 
case of the two trees, it was necessary to 
hit with the ball in order to, theoretic- 
ally, ''hole out." I say theoretically be- 
cause there was no actual hole into which 
the ball could drop on the entire course. 
Even with this grave shortcoming the 

game fascinated me from the start. I 
4 



MY FIRST HOME COURSE 

would get up early and play before 
breakfast and many a time some mem- 
ber of the family found it necessary to 
drive me into the house for luncheon and Driven In 
dinner. Hour after hour I would make 
the circuit of my little course, and day 
after day I would work hard to lower 
my record for the three holes. 

If I got a three or a four on the first 
hole I would walk back and start over 
again. I remember well the first time I 
hit the first tree in one shot. Any golfer 
who has ever made a hole in one stroke of 
the club can readily imagine exactly how 
I felt. I became so excited because of 
the feat that I went all to pieces on the 
second hole, taking about seven shots. 
On three different occasions since that 
day I have had the good fortune to actu- 
ally hole out in one shot from the tee, 
but on none of them did my elation equal 
5 



Mahon 
Boys 



GOLF BOOK 

that which I felt when I hit the tree for 
the first time at 150 yards. 
The When I was about thirteen years of 

age I started playing on the Oyster Bay 
golf course, nine holes in length, and a 
good test of the game. Here I came in 
daily contact with three brothers named 
Mahon. The eldest one of the three gave 
lessons, the other boys were caddies. The 
club had no regular professional. All 
three of the boys were fine golfers. The 
eldest, Willie Mahon, was a natural-born 
player, and I have never seen a better 
exponent of the game. It was a great 
pity Willie had to give up the sport, be- 
cause I feel confident he would have 
made a name for himself as a profes- 
sional. I was very fortunate to find good 
players to go round with when I was a 
youngster, because I got started right, 
which is a great advantage. These boys 



MY FIRST HOME COURSE 

taught me a great deal about the game, 
and I also learned much by watching 
them make the different shots. In those 
days we played with the old solid ball, 
and under the tutelage of the brothers 
my game improved, not rapidly but 
steadily. 



CHAPTER II 
ALEX. SMITH BECOMES MY TUTOR 

AFTER the Oyster Bay golf club 
went out of existence, my father 
joined the Nassau Country Club at Glen 
Cove, L. I., and I became a junior mem- 
ber. I was then fifteen years of age and 
A Junior was playing very good golf for a boy, al- 
though I had a few serious faults in 
style. At that time William Hicks was 
considered to be the best player in the 
Nassau club, and we arranged a match, 
Mr. Hicks giving me a handicap. I 
played better than I knew how, and, 
greatly to the surprise of Mr. Hicks and 
myself, I was two or three up after the 
first nine holes, without the handicap. 
This unexpected defeat made "Bill" so 



ALEX. SMITH MY TUTOR 

angry that he broke two clubs over his 
knee while we were playing the remain- 
ing nine holes. 

During my first two years of play on Changing 

, 1 r . My Swing 

an actual golf course my swing, espe- 
cially with the wooden clubs, was wrong 
and the fault bothered me not a little. I 
would make a long, slow, backward 
swing with my arms stiff and my right 
hand well over the shaft. Naturally, 
this method lost me a great deal of 
power, the lack of which gave me poor 
distance, and I could not get much snap 
into the shot. I felt that something was 
wrong, but did not know wherein lay 
the fault. 

Alex. Smith was the professional at 
Nassau, and my showing against Mr. 
Hicks and other good players interested 
him in my game. One day when I was 
practicing driving, Alex, asked me to try 
9 



GOLF BOOK 

his method of putting the right hand 
under rather than over the shaft. 

"Shorten your back swing," he said, 
"and take the club back with the wrists. 
Swing easily, and keep your eye on the 
ball." 
Right Hand I followed his instructions and drove 
Sh ft ^ lo'^S) ^ow, straight ball. Adopting his 

method, I speedily discovered that I 
could drive a longer ball with less exer- 
tion than with my former swing. Plac- 
ing the right hand under instead of over 
the shaft added more power to the stroke, 
and taking the club back with the wrists, 
or starting the club head back with them, 
increased the speed of the club, thus giv- 
ing me greater distance. 

It would be impossible for a man of 
my physique to copy Alex. Smith's swing 
with a wooden club, because his forearm 
is about twice the size of mine, but we 

10 



ALEX. SMITH MY TUTOR 

play the short iron shots with practically 
the same swing. Three or four times a 
week I played with Alex. Smith, and I 
am glad to state that my success in golf 
is largely due to the instruction I received 
from him. If it had not been my good 
fortune to become his pupil at the for- 
mative period of my golf career, I doubt The Mak- 
if I ever would have won a national title, '"f °' f 

Lhampion 

From the very first I had no trouble 
over the change in my swing, and Alex, 
gave me the highly encouraging assur- 
ance that I had the making of a cham- 
pion in me. On July 13, 1907, the day 
the prophecy of Alex, came true on the 
links of the Euclid Club, Cleveland, I 
took pleasure in stating to a reporter, "I 
feel that my progress in the sport has 
been entirely due to early instruction 
from and matches with Alex. Smith." 

However, there was a five years' in- 
II 



GOLF BOOK 

terval between the prophecy and its ful- 
fillment, five years of painstaking prac- 
tice and hard-fought battles on the links. 
My First I was fifteen years of age when I first 

Competi- j^ade my debut at match play in a regu- 
larly scheduled competition. The event 
was the invitation tournament of the 
Westbrook Golf Club. I won in the first 
two rounds of match play and then found 
myself opposed by Frank O. Rinehart, 
of Baltusrol, a very clever and experi- 
enced player who outdrove me and fin- 
ally put me out of the tournament by the 
narrow margin of 2 up and i to play. 
My First Young but ambitious, I lost no time 
ampion- .^ going after national honors. In Sep- 
tember, 1903, the amateur championship 
of the United States was held upon the 
links of my home club, and my name 
was included among the 140 entries. The 

event was an all match play affair in 
12 



ALEX. SMITH MY TUTOR 

which 128 players participated, and they 
were divided into two halves, each half 
containing 64 players. I was in the first 
half and won the first round 2 up and 
I to play against Dr. S. Carr of Hunting- 
don Valley, but was beaten 4 to 2 in the 
second round by P. H. Jennings of St. 
Andrews, Walter J. Travis, with whom Travis the 
I was later to have so many gruelling 
matches, was the finalist in my 64 and 
E. M. Byers of the Allegheny Country 
Club captured the same honor in the sec- 
ond 64. In the final for the champion- 
ship Travis defeated Byers by a score of 
5 up and 4 to play, thus demonstrating 
for the third time that he was the premier 
amateur golfer of the United States. 

My failure to make a more creditable 
showing was not particularly dishearten- 
ing, because I realized that a sixteen- 
year-old player could hardly expect to 
13 



GOLF BOOK 

make any great headway in a field of 128 
of the country's best golfers, and the fol- 
lowing year I went after my second 
championship. This time the company 
A School- was not so fast, the event in question be- 
oy am- j^^ ^^^ interscholastic golf champion- 
ship. The tournament was held at Nas- 
sau, every foot of which I knew well by 
this time, and I had also had the benefit 
of about a year of Alex. Smith's instruc- 
tion. I worked my way into the final and 
defeated H. G. Hartwell by 4 up and 3 
to play. 



•14 



CHAPTER III 
DOUGLAS AND TRAVIS 

THE 1904 amateur championship 
was held at the Baltusrol Golf 
Club and I was an aspirant for the sec- 
ond time but made a poor showing. D. 
P. Fredericks of Oil City defeated me i 
up in the first round of match play. Des- 
pite these defeats, however, I was slowly 4 ^^al 
but steadily improving, and a few weeks ^'^,r ^" 
later I had the good fortune to participate 
in a somewhat sensational tournament, the 
result of which increased my confidence 
in myself and caused me to be regarded 
for the first time as a real factor in na- 
tional golf circles. The Nassau Country 
Club held an open tournament in which 
many prominent players took part and I 



GOLF BOOK 

succeeded in winning enough victories to 
place me in the semi-final. In this match, 
which was i8 holes, I found myself 
pitted against Findlay S. Douglas, a sea- 
soned veteran who had to his credit 
many golf laurels including the 1898 
Defeat of amateur championship of the United 
oug as States. The match was a closely con- 
tested one and, much to my surprise as 
well as that of the other players, resulted 
in the defeat of Douglas by 2 up and i 
to play. The semi-final was played in the 
morning and my opponent for the final 
in the afternoon was Walter J. Travis, 
who had won the amateur championship 
of the United States three times, and who 
was then British amateur champion. The 
prospect was not encouraging to an am- 
bitious young golfer of seventeen. 
After luncheon, and shortly before the 

eventful match was to start, I sought my 
16 



DOUGLAS AND TRAVIS 

guide, philosopher and friend, Alex. 
Smith, and found him in his shop. 

"Don't pay any attention to the 'Old 
Man,' " he said. "You know how you 
can play this course — day after day you 
turn in cards between 75 and 80 — so just 
go ahead and play your game." 

With these words ringing in my ears 

I joined Travis at the first tee near which First 

had gathered quite a gallery, including ^ 

my father and my tutor, Alex. Driving 

off, we halved the first hole in 4 and 

Travis won the second by holing for a 4 

from the edge of the green. Attempting 

to halve I overran the hole and got the 

only 6 made during the match. This 

rattled me a bit and I topped my drive 

from the third tee, Travis winning 4 to 

5. Turning the tables on the fourth 

where Travis was in the cop bunker on 

his second shot, I won in 4 and we halved 
17 



GOLF BOOK 

the fifth in 5. I won the sixth by holing 
in 4 from the extreme right of the green. 
Travis took a 5 and the match was all 
square. 

By this time the gallery in general, not 
to mention father and Alex., was breath- 
less in its display of interest. Travis had 
always been invincible at Nassau and the 
supposition had been that he would excel 
me in the long game. In this the gallery 
was mistaken, for I held my own in the 
driving and on at least two holes secured 
the greater distance. After reciting these 
facts, a newspaper account written at the 
time says : "Putting really was the deci- 
sive factor in the match. It was a most 
sensational match on the greens." 
A 2 for The seventh hole added to the interest. 

My drive landed in the grass to the left 
of the green and a well played mashie 

shot gave me a 2 for the hole. Travis 
18 



the Hole 



DOUGLAS AND TRAVIS 

got a 3 and for the first time I was i up. 
We halved the eighth in 4 and both 
reached the ninth green in the second 
shot. In trying for a 3, I overran the 
hole and Travis won with a 4 to my 5. 
Two 5's marked the tenth and the veteran 
won the eleventh 3 to 4. We halved the 
twelfth, but Travis holed out from the 
edge of the green for a 3 on the thir- 
teenth, as against my 4, and he was now 
2 up. Things looked a bit dark, but I 
gritted my teeth, reached the fourteenth 
green in my second shot while my oppo- 
nent was not quite up, and won the hole 
4 to 5. The fifteenth and sixteenth holes 
were halved amid growing excitement in All Square 
the ranks of the gallery, 5's and 4's being 
the figures registered, and again I squared 
the match with a 3 to Travis's 4 on the 
seventeenth. We tied the eighteenth hole 

in 4 and then started to play extra holes, 
19 



GOLF BOOK 

the winning of one of which meant vic- 
tory for either Travis or myself. 

At the conclusion of the thirteenth 
when Travis was 2 up, I had been 
strongly of the opinion that I was prac- 
tically beaten. Evidently Travis was of 
Defeat the same view, for on the fourteenth his 
ny third shot to the green was carelessly 

played as if he thought the match were 
so well in hand that he did not need to 
extend himself. This nettled me, caused 
me to set my jaw with renewed determin- 
ation, and no doubt had quite an impor- 
tant bearing on the final result of the 
contest. 

Now that we were all square at the 
finish of 18 holes I went to the first tee 
with restored confidence, not only because 
I had held my own very well, but be- 
cause even if fortune went against me 

on the extra holes the tie at 18 would be 
20 



DOUGLAS AND TRAVIS 

glory enough. On the nineteenth we 
rimmed the cup for 3's and halved in 
4's. On the twentieth each rimmed the 
cup for a 4 and halved with a 5, the 
two holes being played in par. We both 
reached the twenty-first green in two 
shots, Travis twenty feet from the hole 
and my ball ten feet distant. Travis went 
dead to the hole on his third and I ran 
down my ten-foot putt for a 3, one under 
par, and won the match. 

There was a great demonstration on 
the part of the gallery. All the caddies 
threw up their hats, cheers and yells rent 
the air, Alex. Smith's face bore an ex- Father 
pression like that of the cat that had swal- \^^^. , 

Excited 

lowed the canary, and father was so 

happy and rattled that when I asked him 

for two dollars to pay my caddie he 

handed me a twenty dollar bill, instead of 

a two, and never noticed his mistake, the 
21 



GOLF BOOK 

figures being quite similar. Also, he took 
the first train home to show my prize to 
the family, and I kept the change. 
Only Sane Quite naturally the home player was 
the favorite and his victory was a popu- 
lar one. The only sane people around 
the green were Travis and myself. 
"There is no aftermath of bitterness in 
such a defeat," said Travis. "It is a 
match I shall always recall with pleas- 
ure." 



22 



CHAPTER IV 

THE BALL IN THE INDIAN'S POCKET 

WHEN the 1905 golf season opened 
I got to work early, full of hope 
that the ensuing year would see further 
demonstrations indicating progress on my 
part. My game showed improvement My Third 
and, generally speaking, the season was a ,-^ °"' 
satisfactory one. The amateur cham- 
pionship was held at the Chicago Golf 
Club, Wheaton, 111., in August and there 
were 146 entries and 129 starters. I was 
one of the 32 who qualified for match 
play in the 36 holes' medal play round. 
My score was 170, the best score, 155 
being made by Dr. D. P. Fredericks of 
Oil City, the player who had eliminated 

me the previous year. In the first round 
23 



Travers 



GOLF BOOK 

of match play I was paired with E. M. 
Byers of the Allegheny Country Club 
and he put me out with ease, the score 
being 6 up and 5 to play in his favor. 
D. E. Sawyer of Wheaton and H. C. 
Egan of Exmoor were the finalists, Egan 
winning the championship by 6 up and 5 
to play. 
Travis and Earlier in the year I competed in 
the Metropolitan championship at Fox 
Hills, defeating Travis 7 up and 6 to 
play but failing to win the event. By 
this time there was a strong friendly 
rivalry between Travis and myself, and 
it has continued to the present time. 

Not long after the Fox Hills tourna- 
ment Travis and I met again at the 
Westbrook Golf Club and he very clev- 
erly turned the tables by beating me 8 
up and 7 to play. An odd incident oc- 
curred in the locker room after the game. 
24 



IN THE INDIAN'S POCKET 

In discussing the match with a bystander, 
Travis said: "I do not expect that the 
boy will ever beat me again." 

As he spoke I appeared in the bath- 
room doorway and overheard the re- 
mark, but realizing that it was not in- 
tended for my ears, I paid no attention 
to it. 

In July, Travis and I met in the final The Lost 
of the invitation tournament of the Shin- 
necock Hills Golf Club, and the match 
went to the twenty-first green where he 
holed a ten-foot putt for a three after I 
had missed a similar putt, and won the 
game i up. We were all even playing 
the home hole when a remarkable inci- 
dent occurred. I drove a long ball from 
the eighteenth tee and as it hooked to- 
wards the rough at the left we distinctly 
saw it strike an Indian caddie, one of the 

Shinnecock lads, in the back. Travis 
25 



GOLF BOOK 

drove a straight ball and then all hands 
set out to search the stubble for my ball. 
The gallery came to our aid and two or 
three hundred people hunted in vain for 
the ball. Under the rules a ball lost for 
five minutes means the loss of the hole, 
and in this particular instance it meant 
the loss of the match. 

"Time's up," announced W. A. Put- 
nam of the greens committee, as he looked 
at his watch. Travis cast a sharp glance 
in his direction which meant that he did 
not wish to claim the hole on a techni- 
cality. When questioned, the Indian 
Ward caddie stoutly declared that the ball had 
D 1 not touched him, although we all knew 

that this was not true. Finally John M. 
Ward, one time captain of the New York 
"Giants" and since then a very talented 
golfer, saw a bulge in the Indian's hip 

pocket and when the cause of the bulge 
26 



IN THE INDIAN'S POCKET 

was removed it proved to be my golf 
ball. There was no doubt about this be- 
cause I had been playing with a red dot 
ball, from both ends of which I had cut 
the dots, and that identical ball was taken 
from the Indian's pocket. As Travis 
very generously had refrained from 
claiming the hole under the five minute 
rule, the incident merely passed as a "rub 
o' the green" and I dropped the ball 
without penalty and halved the hole in 
4, missing a putt of about three and one- 
half feet for the hole and the match. As 
I have already stated, however, Travis 
won the match on the twenty-first green. 

But how did the ball get into the In- The 
dian's pocket? That is a mystery un- ^y^^^^'y 

Solved? 

solved to this day, but I have a theory 

of my own concerning it. The Indian 

wore no coat and there were several rents 

in the back of his shirt. The ball doubt- 
27 



GOLF BOOK 

less struck one of these and dropped in- 
side his shirt. Feeling the ball there, and 
believing that he would get into trouble 
because he had interfered with a notable 
match, he drew the ball from his shirt 
and slipped it into his hip pocket. 

In September came the annual open 
tournament at Nassau, and as in the pre- 
Again the vious year Travis and I were again the 
Finalists g^alists. The match ended on the six- 
teenth green 4 up and 2 to play in my 
favor. Travis ranked as the greatest 
amateur golfer in America and I have 
devoted considerable space to my 
matches with him because they throw 
light upon the progress I had made in the 
game at the age of eighteen. 



28 



CHAPTER V 

WINNING THE METROPOLITAN 

WHEN the golf season of 1906 
opened I was nineteen years of 
age and a schoolboy, but golf was such an 
attractive sport that I found time to com- 
pete in the principal events of the year. 
One of these was the championship of the 
Metropolitan Golf Association at St. 
Andrews. In this tournament E. M. Defeat of 

Byers and I were the finalists and I won _" 

Byers 

the championship for the first time by 
3 up and I to play. A newspaper in com- 
menting on the match had the following: 
"The feature of the winner's game 
was the length of his full shots and their 
perfect direction. W. J. Travis in his 

palmiest days was not truer on the line. 
29 



GOLF BOOK 

Then, again, the youngster has a versa- 
tility in playing various iron and ap- 
proach shots which few veterans could 
surpass, and what slight weakness there 
may have been in his game was an occa- 
sional lack of strength in his approach 
putts. 

"Mr. Byers played with his usual ease 

and grace, and his apparently effortless 

swing, in which there isn't the faintest 

suspicion of force, was in strong contrast 

to that of his opponent. The latter, 

though short in stature, is wiry, lithe and 

— — strong as a young Kerry bull, and, taking 

more than a full swing, he puts every 

ounce of power and muscle he possesses 

into his shots." 

"A Kid The newspaper quoted characterized 

Champion" ^^ ^^ u^ ^^^ champion," and the "kid" 

was very fortunate to win as he did, be- 
cause in July Byers was playing in such 
30 



WINNING METROPOLITAN 

form that he won the national champion- 
ship. 

This event was held on the links of the 
Englewood Golf Club and there were 
141 entries and 131 starters. Thirty-six 
holes of medal play qualified 32 players 
for match play. Walter J. Travis, with 
152, made the best medal score and I 
came second with 155. George S. Lyon Nearer 
of Toronto had 161, E. M. Byers 162 
and H. Chandler Egan of Exmoor 159. 
I defeated Percy R. Pyne, 2d, of Prince- 
ton 7 and 5 in the first round of match 
play and Archibald Graham of North 
Jersey 4 and 3 in the second round. 
There were now but eight of us left 
in this, my fourth attempt to win the 
championship, and I was nearer the goal 
than ever before. 

In the third round which was to decide 
whether I was to be one of four sur- 
31 



GOLF BOOK 

vivors or out of it altogether, I found my- 
self again facing Walter J. Travis. In 
practice rounds I had lowered the ama- 
teur record of the course twice with a 
74 and a 71, and the match with Travis 
was progressing very satisfactorily when 
a photographer snapped his camera at 
me quite unexpectedly, so far as I was 
concerned, and I made a bad shot. Un- 
der ordinary circumstances I am by no 
means camera-shy, but when a golfer is 
under high pressure the slightest unusual 
distraction will cause him to take his eye 
off the ball. There is no reason why one 
bad shot should lose a match, but in this 
Lost Tern- case I foolishly lost my temper with the 
per, ost j.gg^i|. |-j^^|. Travis took hole after hole 

Match 

and finally won by 3 to 2. The lesson 
was a severe one and I have not forgotten 
it to this day. I do not mean to be un- 
derstood as claiming that but for the 
32 



WINNING METROPOLITAN 

camera man I would have beaten Travis, 
and I am not relating this incident as an 
excuse for my defeat. Always, to the No Excuse 
victor belongs the full credit, and a poor '°^ ^'^^* 
loser in golf is a pitiable object. Travis 
played the better golf and v^on the match, 
but I handicapped myself by losing my 
temper. MORAL: Never lose your 
temper! 

In mentioning this incident the New 
York Evening Telegram of July i6, 
1906, said: "In his temperament, if not 
carefully self-guarded, he (Travers) 
fails. It was then he lost to Travis. He 
lost temper over the clicking of a camera 
and the failure of one or two succeeding 
shots to come off." 

I have had similar provocation since 

then, but one lesson of this kind was 

enough. I make it a point to hold my 

temper as firmly as I grip my clubs. 
33 



GOLF BOOK 

Byers the In the fourth round Travis encoun- 

Champion i x> t% /r t^ t • • ^ • i 

tered b. M. Byers and joined me in the 
discard. Byers defeated him 4 up and 
3 to play and then met George S. Lyon in 
the final, winning the championship by 2 
up. 

In April, 1907, Travis and I played a 
very close match at the Garden City 
Golf Club in the final for the chief cup. 
There had been a snow storm the pre- 
vious day and a violent wintry gale was 
blowing to add to the difficulties. We 
each turned in 164 for 36 holes and the 
match was all square on the thirty-sixth 
green. Two extra holes were played, the 
thirty-seventh being halved in 4's and 
Travis won on the thirty-eighth green 
with a 3 to my 4. 

As the following comments from a 

newspaper indicate, the match was a 

gruelling one: 

34 



WINNING METROPOLITAN 

"Walter J. Travis was forced to go 
38 holes yesterday to win the chief prize A Long 
in the Garden City Golf Club's tourna- ^""^^ 
ment from Jerome D. Travers. It was 
probably the longest fight ever put up 
by the man who has won more honors in 
the royal and ancient sport than any other 
American. Only once in the two rounds 
was there as much as three holes differ- 
ence between the two players and then at 
the end of the fifth hole in the afternoon 
when Travers was 3 up. 

"Whether Travis became scared at 
that point and let himself out will never 
be known, but his reserve power was cer- 
tainly drawn upon at that point, and he 
made a spurt that within four holes had 
squared the match. Travis, as always, 
excelled in judgment and straightness. 
Travers seemed to disdain trouble for the 

sake of getting out of it, where most 
35 



GOLF BOOK 

golfers would be helpless. The wind, 
always bothersome over the course, was 
the worst on record yesterday and played 
as great havoc with putting as with driv- 
ing. 

''The match should have gone to Trav- 
ers, but he almost deliberately threw 
away his opportunity by slipping up on 
a putt on the thirteenth and again on the 
seventeenth where he followed a poor ap- 
proach with a wretched putt. Even 
Travis had a fit of overconfidence that 
prolonged the struggle several holes. 
Nervousness in putting by Travers on the 
second extra hole brought the match to 
an end." 
Nothing The Statement that I "almost deliber- 

. ately threw away my opportunity is 

amusingly absurd. A contestant in a 
match of such a strenuous character is 
doing his level best to win, and I was 



WINNING METROPOLITAN 

not deliberately throwing anything away 
to an opponent of the calibre of Travis. 
Under the nervous tension produced by a 
38 hole match of this importance, a 
player at times will miss absurdly easy 
shots — shots that ordinarily would not 
bother him in the least. Let the New 
York Sun describe the two concluding 
holes : 

"Next a half on the first extra hole in 
4, where Travers putted past a stymie. 
Playing for the thirty-eighth hole Travis 
was trapped back of the green and Trav- 
ers within ten feet of the hole. It was 
even betting Travers would get a 3 and Pitched 

Trptf 1 11 Dead to 

ravis a 4. 1 he reverse happened and , „ 

determined the issue. Travis pitched up 

dead to the hole from the hazard, while 

Travers tried to 'gobble' a two and then 

missed a two-foot putt for a 3. ... In 

the sustained brilliancy of the golf in 
37 



GOLF BOOK 

stress of wind, in its many fluctuations 
and in its duration, the match will not 
be equaled in a long time." 

Yes, it was a grand golf game — even 
if Travis did take home the cup. 



38 



CHAPTER VI 

MY FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 

MY father moved to Montclair, N. 
J., and the golf season of 1907 
found me representing the Montclair 
Golf Club. The first important tourna- 
ment of the year was the Metropolitan 
championship which was held on the 
links of my old club, Nassau, and thither 
I went to defend my title of Metropoli- Travers 
tan champion. For the second time I ^''^"^ 

Douglas 

fought my way through to the final in 
which I met the veteran, Findlay S. 
Douglas. At the conclusion of the morn- 
ing round I was 4 up and in the afternoon 
I increased the lead and won the 1907 
championship by 8 up and 7 to play. 
Being a Jerseyman, I was now able to 

compete in the championship of the New 
39 



GOLF BOOK 

Jersey State Golf Association for the 
first time. The tournament was held on 
the links of the Baltusrol Golf Club and 
Max Behr of Baltusrol and I faced each 
other in the 36 holes final. I had a 79 
as against an 80 for Behr in the morning 
round and finished 3 up. The home 
coming nine holes in the morning and the 
outgoing nine holes in the afternoon were 
each done in 36 strokes, giving me a 72 
for 18 consecutive holes. The record for 
the course at that time, 71, was held by 
George Low, the club's professional. 
Champion The match ended on the twelfth green in 
, ^^ the afternoon, and I had added the New 

Jersey 

Jersey State championship to the Metro- 
politan by a score of 7 up and 6 to play. 
When the national championship tour- 
nament opened on the links of the Eu- 
clid Club, Cleveland, Ohio, July 9, I 

entered the contest for the fifth successive 
40 



NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 

time feeling hopeful but by no means 
sanguine. 

After the battle a newspaper quoted 
me as having said : "I came to Cleveland 
intending and expecting to win. It 
seemed to me that it was my turn to cap- 
ture the title." 

I made no such statement. Like the ^y Match 

WithByers 

other players, I went to Cleveland m- 
tending to win if I could, but not ex- 
pecting to do so. I had been outplayed 
in four national championships already 
and I knew how hard the game was and 
how fast the company. One of my 
friends, a famous golfer and a contestant 
in the tournament, had more confidence 
in me than I had myself. He bet con- 
siderable money at odds of one to ten 
that I would carry off the championship 
medal. When he told me what he had 

done I called him a fool. 
41 



GOLF BOOK 

"You'll lose your money, man," I said. 
Then I thought the matter over a few 
minutes, hunted up the Pittsburgh mil- 
lionaire who was offering ten to one 
against me, and made a small wager on 
myself at the same odds. There were 
ii8 entries and 102 starters with the 
usual 36 holes of medal play to qualify 
32 contestants for match play. Travis 
Low Score won the medal for the lowest score, 146, 
jor ravis ^^^ scorc was 1 53, Champion Byers had 
162, and the highest medal score to 
qualify was 165. My first opponent at 
match play was W. A. Stickney, St. 
Louis Country Club, whom I defeated 
by 3 and i. My second round was with 
Frederick Herreshoff and ended in my 
favor 3 and 2, and in the third round I 
defeated Warren K. Wood of Homewood 
in a close match, being i up at the finish. 

In the fourth round I found myself 
42 



NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 

matched against E. M. Byers of Alle- 
gheny, the holder of the national cham- 
pionship title. He was not in his best 
form, for he went out in 43 as against 
my 36 and at the end of the first nine 
holes I was 4 up. I won the ninth with 
a 35-foot putt for a 3 which was two 
under bogey, and on the thirteenth I laid 
a 185 yards' cleek shot dead to the hole 
— two feet from it, to be exact — ran 
down the putt in 3 to his 4 and won the 
match 6 up and 5 to play. 

I was now in the final for the cham- Graham 

- . •If ^ against 

pionship Itself and my opponent was y^ ^ ^ 
Archibald Graham, North Jersey Coun- 
try Club. Travis had been beaten in the 
third round by W. C. Fownes, Jr., of 
Oakmont by i up in a twenty-hole match, 
and Fownes had succumbed to Graham. 
About 1,200 people composed the gallery 

in the morning round and double that 
43 



GOLF BOOK 

number followed the match in the after- 
noon. One of the best accounts of the 
championship final was written by the 
New York Tribune correspondent and 
I hope I shall be pardoned for quoting it 
in full: 

"Jerome D. Travers of Montclair, N. 
J., won the national amateur golf cham- 
pionship title on the links of the Euclid 
Club here to-day, defeating Archibald 
Graham of the North Jersey Country 
Club by 6 up and 5 to play in the thirty- 
six hole final round. 

"Save for a brief period early in the 

day Travers was never down. He 

Two Holes reached the turn 2 up, and, although 

° / Graham drew level later on, Travers 

Good ' 

again shook ofif his opponent, and ended 
the morning round two holes to the good. 
At the turn in the afternoon the Mont- 
clair crack had increased his advantage 
44 




Photo Copyrlghl by American Press Association 
PLATE I— THE HAVEMEYER CUP 
Held by the champion's club while he is champion. 



NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 

to 4 up, and after that the ultimate re- 
sult was never in doubt in the minds of 
the gallery. 

"In brief, it may be said that Travers "Vnbeat- 
won because he played the same unbeat- ^ ^ ° ' 
able golf that has marked his work ever 
since the match play began on Thursday 
morning. The achievement of this 
young man, who is only twenty years old, 
is regarded as the more remarkable from 
the fact that this makes him a triple 
champion. To hold the national. Metro- 
politan and New Jersey titles all at 
the same time is something hitherto un- 
heard of. 

"Travers's medal score for the eighteen 

holes play in the morning was 75; for 

the first nine holes of the afternoon, 36, 

and he was one under bogey on the last 

four holes played. Graham took 78 in 

the morning, 38 for the first nine holes 
45 



GOLF BOOK 

in the afternoon and was one over bogey 
on the last four holes. 

"Graham played a plucky game, but 
was simply outclassed by a golfer who, 
to quote the language of President 
Chauncey of the United States Golf As- 
sociation, gave the finest exhibition of 
golf that has ever been seen since the 
amateur championship tournament was 
first played. 

" 'Travers is the logical winner of this 
tournament and deserves the champion- 
ship,' said the veteran Walter J. Travis, 
after watching the New Jersey golfer 
Logical hole out the putt that brought him na- 

ff^ inner 

tional honors. 'He had the hard side of 

the draw and waded through a lot of 

high-class players to the finish of the 

tournament.' 

"Travers played brilliant golf to-day, 

almost as perfect, in fact, as that shown 
46 



NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 

in yesterday's sensational matcli with 
Warren K. Wood. He was in trouble 
occasionally, but his iron shots several 
times won him holes which apparently 
he had lost. Only once did he display 
poor judgment. That was at the seventh 
hole in the afternoon round. The dis- 
tance to this hole is 462 yards, with a big 
bunker guarding the green thirty yards 
from the cup. Graham took a chance 
after his long drive to carry the bunker, 
and got off a low ball that carried more 
than 200 yards. 
"Travers tried the same shot, but could ^nto the 

Bunker 

not get the distance, although he made 
a perfect stroke, and his ball plumped 
into the bunker, this shot losing him the 
hole. Travers, however, generally out- 
drove Graham, his iron shots were al- 
most invariably better placed, and his 

work on the greens, the most delicate 
47 



GOLF BOOK 

stroke of golf, was far superior to that of 
the North Jersey man. 

"There was a southwest wind blow- 
ing when the pair left the first tee, but 
it did not have sufficient strength to inter- 
fere with the contestants. A tremendous 
gallery followed the pair. 

"That both men were likely to engage 
in a long driving competition was ap- 
parent at the outset, when their tee shots 
Two Long almost reached the bunker. The drives 
rivers were good for 260 yards. Both ap- 
proached to the edge of the green and 
halved in 4. The same even division was 
recorded at the next hole, although 
Graham had the luck to have his half- 
topped drive jump the ditch. 

"Travers reached the third green, a 

distance of 205 yards, with his cleek, but 

his approach putt was too strong by seven 

feet, and as he failed to get down the 
48 



NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 

next Graham won in 3 to 4. This made 
the Paterson man i up, but his advantage 
was brief, as Travers won the 414-yard 
fourth in a capital 4. Graham penalized 
himself by a sliced drive. They were 
then all square. 

"From the fifth tee Travers got the 
longer ball by twenty yards, while 
Graham's second shot was sliced and his 
third fell green shy. Travers was past 
the pin on his second and won in 4 to 6, 
making him i up. A slice to the woods A. Slice to 
cost the Montclair man the next hole, 
Graham winning in 4 to 5, thereby 
squaring the match again. 

"Although the seventh hole is 462 

yards, both men got home in 2. A weak 

approach putt on Graham's part enabled 

the other to win in 4 to 5. This made 

Travers again i up. His tee shot to the 

short eighth hole came within an ace of 
49 



GOLF BOOK 

being bunkered, but a deadly approach 
enabled him to halve in 3. Although 
Graham topped his second shot going to 
the ninth, he recovered so well that all 
he needed was to bring off a two-foot 
putt for a halve in 5. He failed, how- 
Two Up ever, and Travers turned for home 2 up. 
His card at that point showed 27 strokes. 
Graham needed an even 40. 

"A beautiful drive of 225 yards by 
Graham reached the tenth green, and, as 
Travers was a trifle short, the Paterson 
man won in 3 to 4. After a half-topped 
drive from the eleventh tee, Travers re- 
covered well and got a halve in 4. Luck 
favored the Montclair player at the short 
twelfth, where his indifferent iron shot 
landed on top of the bunker. But 
Graham, who made no mistake, won in 
3 to 4, and they were again all square. 

"They halved the thirteenth in 5, after 
50 



NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 

Graham had pulled his drive. He also 
pulled to the rough going to the four- 
teenth, but recovered well and got a halve 
in 4. Graham was short of the next 
green on his third shot, but a deadly ap- i 

proach enabled him to halve in 5. From 
the sixteenth tee Graham drove fully 240 
yards, but as neither man made any mis- 
takes they halved in 4. Travers won the 
seventeenth because Graham sliced his 
second to the woods. The same mistake 
was repeated by Graham going to the 
home hole, and Travers won again in an- 
other par 4, thus enabling the Montclair Two Up at 
player to retire for luncheon with an ad- ^ ° ^^ 
vantage of 2 up. He had made the round 
in 75 to 78 for Graham. 

"Starting out in the afternoon, Travers 
went so fast that his card showed one un- 
der fours for the first six holes. Against 

such a pace as that the Paterson man did 
51 



GOLF BOOK 

well to win one hole, the second, where 
he brought off a tricky putt for a 3. 

"To offset this Travers won the third, 
fourth, fifth and sixth holes in rapid suc- 
cession, making him 5 up. He won the 
third because Graham topped his drive, 
while at the next the Paterson player 
never had a chance for Travers after 
driving 250 yards laid his second within 
five yards of the pin and won in 4 to 5. 
The hole is 414 yards. At the next Gra- 
Missed a ham missed a two-foot putt for a halve 
p^^^ and followed this by pulling his drive to 

the rough from the next tee. 

"Now 5 up, Travers seemed to become 
a trifle careless and at the next hole made 
the error in judgment previously men- 
tioned, and at all events it was Graham's 
hole in 4 to 6, and he followed this up by 
laying his iron shot within five feet of 

the pin at the short eighth and brought 

52 



NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 

off the putt for a 2. This left Graham 
3 down. 

"The accurate long game of Travers 
then began to tell again, as his second 
shot reached the far edge of the ninth 
green and the hole was his in 4 to 5. 
That made him 4 up. Although the 
tenth hole is 235 yards, Travers drove 
clear across to the far edge, and, laying 
his approach putt stone dead, won in 3 
to 4, making him 5 up. Graham won the 
next because his opponent fell short on 
the approach. To the short twelfth Trav- 
ers laid his tee shot within fifteen feet Stymie for 
of the cup, and then further disconcerted 
his man by laying him a stymie. Under 
the circumstances it was a simple matter 
to win in 3 to 4. 

"Now 5 up once more and with only 
six holes to go, Travers proceeded to 
settle matters at the thirteenth. Graham 
53 



GOLF BOOK 

handicapped himself by hooking his 
brassie, so that Travers, who made no 
mistakes, won in 4 to 5. The bye holes 
were not played. The cards follow: 

Travers, out 4 4444543 S— 37 

Graham, out 4 4356453 6 — 40 

Travers, in 4 4 4 5 4 5 4 4 4 — 38 — 75 

Graham, in 3 4 3 5 4 5 4 5 5—38—78 

Travers, out 4 4444363 4 — 36 

Graham, out 4 3 5 5 S S 4 2 S" 38 

Travers, in 3 534 

Graham, in 4 4 4 5 " 

Champion \ was now not only champion of the 
United States, but Metropolitan cham- 
pion and New Jersey State champion as 
well. Fortune was certainly very kind to 
me in 1907. 

In 1908 I won the national champion- 
ship a second time. The tournament was 
held at the Garden City Golf Club and 
I defeated Max Behr in the final by 8 up 
and 7 to play. Earlier in the year I 

reached the final in the Metropolitan 
54 



NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 

championship but was beaten in by C. 
H. Seeley of Wee Burn on the thirty- 
eighth hole. 

In the spring of 1909 I competed in Beaten in 
the British amateur championship at '^° ^" 
Muirfield, Scotland, but was beaten in the 
first round. That year I did not compete 
in any of the principal championship 
events in the United States. 

In 1910 I was beaten by Frederick 
Herreshoff of Ekwanok 4 up and 3 to 
play in the Metropolitan and did not 
compete in the national championship. 

I joined the Upper Montclair Coun- 
try Club of Montclair in 1910, and the 
following spring devoted considerable 
time to getting "on my game." I won the 
Metropolitan and New Jersey State 
championships, and was defeated by 
Harold H. Hilton, Royal Liverpool, in 
the third round of the national cham- 
SS 



GOLF BOOK 

pionship. The match was held at Apa- 
wamis and was followed by a gallery of 
two thousand people. Hilton and Fred- 
erick Herreshoff, of Ekwanok, met in 
the final, and Hilton carried the cham- 
pionship trophy back to England. 
Thrice In 1912 I won the Metropolitan and 

National • t 1 • 1 • 1 1 

Champion ^^^lonal championships, but was beaten 
in the final of the New Jersey State cham- 
pionship by Oswald Kirkby, of Engle- 
wood. The national championship was 
held at the Chicago Golf Club, and 
my opponent in the final was Charles 
Evans, Jr. 

It is with a feeling of genuine relief 
that I "hole out," metaphorically speak- 
ing, on the eighteenth green of this au- 
tobiographical course, and I desire to 
tender the reader my heartfelt apologies 
for having said so much about myself. 



56 



CHAPTER VII 
HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY GOLF 

GET started right. That is doubtless 
the most important bit of advice 
an expert can give the man who is ambi- 
tious to learn to play golf and play it 
well. Too many beginners are taught by 
golfers who know practically nothing 
about the game themselves. This is a 
plain case of the blind leading the blind. 
How shall the beginner, groping about Bunkered 
in the darkness of ignorance, ever find «" . , 
the putting green ahead and hole out in 
a reasonable and respectable number of 
strokes? In golf parlance he is bunkered 
the moment he leaves the tee, and stymied 

as soon as his ball reaches the green. 
57 



GOLF BOOK 

Good Get started right. Employ a compe- 

>j J J tent professional the first day you take up 
the game and obey his instructions im- 
plicitly. Make them your golf religion. 
Don't listen a minute to Tom, Dick or 
Harry. Too many instructors are like 
too many cooks. They will spoil the 
Scotch golf broth. Get started young, if 
you can, the younger the better. I know 
a boy three years old who swings his 
tiny driver with unerring aim and has a 
beautiful follow through. I know an- 
other boy, twelve years of age, who plays 
better golf than two hundred and fifty of 
the three hundred members of his club. 
In golf, as in other sports, youth is a 
great helper, but if you cannot start at 
three, or twelve, or even thirty-five, start 
at forty-five or fifty. Remember that 'tis 
better to have golfed and foozled than 

never golfed at all. 

58 



HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY 

Six clubs are all a beginner needs, 
driver, brassie, cleek, mid-iron, mashie, 
and putter. After he learns how to use Six Clubs 
these he can add a mashie niblick for the ("Z" ^^'^ 

Novice 

task of getting out of bunkers and sand 
traps, and a jigger for running up short 
approaches. I carry but nine clubs my- 
self, a driver, two brassies, driving iron, 
mid-iron, jigger, mashie, mashie niblick 
and putter. The extra brassie is held in 
reserve to protect me against the loss 
through breakage of the services of a 
valuable club. There are putters of many 
kinds, but I prefer the center shafted 
type, or Schenectady putter. In 1904 
when I was seventeen years of age I was 
matched for the first time against Walter 
J. Travis. On the eve of the game a 
friend loaned me a putter of this sort. I 
practiced a short time with it, used it 
throughout the entire match without 
59 



GOLF BOOK 

missing a single putt and my friend gave 
it to me after the game. For nine years, 
in victory and in defeat, that identical 
center shafted putter and I have been in- 
separable companions. 
Learn If I were a golf instructor it would be 

Sei>arateh ^^"^^ little time before my pupil were al- 
lowed to go round the links. Starting 
with the wooden clubs, driver and bras- 
sie, I would have him learn each club 
separately. I would place him on the 
tee with a peck of golf balls beside him 
and a caddie on the fair green ahead to 
chase them. For an hour at a time I 
would instruct him in the art of driving 
alone, striving to correct his mistakes be- 
fore they became habit, showing him how 
to grip his club, how to address the ball, 
how to follow through properly. At the 
end of an hour, if he were an apt pupil, 

he would know something about driving 
60 



HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY 

whereas, if he had devoted the time to 
play over the links with six different 
clubs, he would have learned nothing of 
value about any one of them. 

Then I would take him out on the fair 
green, place a brassie in his hand and 
have him put in another hour learning 
how to use this club. I would explain to 
him the difference between a good bras- 
sie lie and a poor one, laying particular 
stress upon the fact that a poor lie usually 
means a poor shot and that one of the 
first things to learn about this club is 
when not to use it. 

If, after an hour of driving and an- An Hour 

other hour of brassie play, the novice felt 

the need of something less strenuous, I 

would then have him devote another hour 

to putting. I would show him the proper 

stance and how to grip the club and at 

the end of his first long lesson he would 
6i 



GOLF BOOK 

know more about putting than the aver- 
age beginner knows after he has played 
the entire course a dozen times with all 
the clubs. 

In the same manner I would instruct 
him in the use of the cleek, mid-iron and , 
mashie, assigning from half an hour to 
an hour to each club, and when he had 
gained a fair working knowledge con- 
cerning the manipulation of these clubs 
and the driver, brassie and putter, I 
would turn him loose upon the links for 
an entire round of the eighteen holes. 
When, in response to different needs, he 
Each Club was Compelled to play one club after an- 
^I! . , other, each club would not be a compara- 

rnend 

tive stranger but an old friend with which 
he was already familiar through hours 
of practice. I do not carry a cleek my- 
self because I get better results with a 

driving iron, but I would not advise a 
62 



HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY 

novice to follow this example. Also, un- 
like many players, I do not use a spoon 
because I found that it shortened my 
game and that I was playing it when I 
should have relied upon the mid-iron. 

I have laid particular stress upon the 
necessity for long practice with each club 
because it is difficult for a beginner to Necessity 
learn the game if he only plays eighteen °; °y 
holes once or twice a week and contents 
himself with that. Walter J. Travis, 
who learned to play golf after he was 
35, is probably the most remarkable ex- 
ample of what can be accomplished by 
constant, patient, untiring practice. No 
man in America ever worked so hard to 
become a great golfer as he did, and as 
his reward he has won the amateur cham- 
pionship of the United States three times 
and the British amateur championship 

once. Furthermore, he is the only Ameri- 
63 



GOLF BOOK 

can amateur who ever succeeded in win- 
ning the British championship. 
One Club When Travis is "ofif his game" and is 

for Hours 

not driving, approaching or putting as he 

should, he goes out on the links alone 

and plays with one club or another for 

hours, practicing the same shot over and 

over until he has recovered his very best 

form. 

I have done the same thing myself on 

many occasions. I have played the same 

shot fifty times. I have putted for two 

hours at a stretch, placing my ball at 

varying distances from the hole, trying 

for short putts, long putts, up hill and 

down hill putts and putts across a side 

hill green where the ball must follow a 

crescent-like course if it is to be holed out 

or go "dead to the hole." During the 

afternoon round of my match against 

Harold H. Hilton, the British champion, 
64 



HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY 

at the national amateur championship on 
the Apawamis links in 191 1, I had before 
me what my own club's champion de- 
clared was an "impossible" putt. Of the 
two thousand people following the match, 
most of those near the green no doubt 
shared his opinion. I was not very hope- 
ful myself. My ball was at least twenty 
feet from the hole, the green was of the 
undulating, billowy type and it was a 
down hill putt. 

Remembering the old adage, "Never "t^ever Up, 
up, never in," I struck the ball a bit too 
hard, but it raced down the green as if 
drawn by a magnet, struck the opposite 
side of the cup, leaped into the air an 
inch or two and dropped safely into the 
hole. 

"If you hadn't hit the hole exactly 

square, Travers, you would have been 

out of bounds," was Oswald Kirkby's hu- 
65 



GOLF BOOK 

morous description of the shot after the 
game. 

A putt of this sort is usually called a 
"lucky" putt, and no doubt there is a cer- 
tain element of luck about it. Yet hours 
and hours of practice produced the skill 
and judgment that sank that "impossible" 
putt. 

When I was playing for the champion- 
ship at Wheaton in 191 2, I got into a 
very high and formidable bunker on an 
approach shot. The ball was at the very 
base of the bunker, close up, and the 
situation was such a difficult one that I 
had little hope of getting over with one 
shot. However, I took my mashie nib- 
The Ball lick, got Well under the ball with it and 
raw e ^jjjuch to my gratification the ball crawled 
up the steep side of the bunker, moved 
slowly across its top, struck the putting 

green and rolled up dead to the hole. A 
66 



HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY 

putt gave me a four and captured the 
hole. 

Many a time I have thrown a dozen 
balls into a bunker and practiced for an 
hour endeavoring to discover the most 
successful method of getting out of this 
difficult hazard. As in the case of the 
"impossible" putt, the Chicago bunker 
shot was successful because hours of faith- 
ful study had been devoted to learning 
the way to do it. 

Many beginners do a great deal of un- Whippy 
necessary fussing about their clubs, dis- * , , 

Valueless 

carding this one or that one as of no 
value when lack of skill and proper prac- 
tice are more responsible for bad play 
than lack of merit in the clubs. A novice 
should buy good clubs and should be 
largely guided in their selection by a cap- 
able professional or amateur. Clubs with 

whippy shafts are to be avoided and the 
67 



GOLF BOOK 

purchase of every new freak club that is 
placed on the market is a foolish expen- 
diture of money. 

In taking up the game the beginner 
should familiarize himself thoroughly 
with the etiquette and the rules. Play- 
ing the wrong ball, failing to let the pair 
behind go through when his ball is lost, 
playing into the pair ahead, or upon the 
putting green before they have holed out, 
talking or moving about when an oppo- 
nent is making a shot, cutting across the 
course and endeavoring to get in ahead of 
other players who are going round the 
entire links — these and other simple in- 
fractions of rules and etiquette make the 
careless beginner unpopular and are the 
cause of many unpleasant experiences. 
A Golf Not long ago I heard of a very promi- 

Convert ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ made all sorts of fun of 

golf and for years refused to try to play. 
68 



HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY 

It was a simple, foolish, easy game, he 

said, and he knew it would not interest 

him. Finally a friend dragged him to 

the links, teed a ball for him and told 

him to drive. When he had struck four 

times at the ball without even touching 

it, he became so exasperated that he 

bought a set of clubs that very day and To Conquer 

started with determination to conquer r^, . „ ,. 

the little white ball. 

A month later the friend who had 
dragged him to the links met him hurry- 
ing toward the golf club although his 
left arm was in a sling. 

"What are you going to do?" asked 
the friend. 

"Oh, I broke my arm," was the enthu- 
siastic reply, "but I'm going down to play 
with one hand!" 



69 



CHAPTER VIII 
PRACTICAL POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE 

IN the articles that follow, dealing 
with the various clubs, I shall en- 
deavor to impart information that shall 
be of value both to the novice and to the 
player who has already acquired some 
knowledge of the game but who, possibly, 
has developed some annoying fault he is 
anxious to correct. Even the best of 
players are "off their game" at times and 
"Any Fool if I can help them solve their problems 

Can Drive" i • , , • i • < t 

and give the begmner the right start, I 
shall consider that the time and effort ex- 
pended upon this book was not expended 
in vain. 

I have heard it stated that "any fool 

can drive," but steady, consistent, meri- 
70 



POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE 

torlous driving is not an art that is easily 
acquired nor, once acquired, easily re- 
tained. How often one hears this or that 
player say: ''Yesterday I was driving 
like a fiend, but to-day I cannot hit one 
right to save my life!" 

The main trouble with golfers of this Getting 
type is that they actually know very little /) • d t 
about the science of driving. While they 
are lining them out well from the tee the 
feeling of confidence thus inspired keeps 
them going from one good drive to an- 
other, but let them miss one or two and 
they promptly commence pressing or 
blindly experimenting and they go all to 
pieces. Confidence once lost, it is a dif- 
ficult task to get one's drive back. On the 
other hand, the golfer who knows just 
what he is doing and how he is doing it, 
is speedily able to discover where the 

fault lies and correct it. 
71 



GOLF BOOK 

Beyond doubt the drive is the most 
spectacular and interesting incident of 
the royal and ancient game, yet compara- 
tively few ever learn to drive in proper 
style or to feel the pleasant and fascinat- 
ing sensation of sweeping the little white 
ball away for upwards of two hundred 
yards straight down the course. Careful 
observation of the work done by the ma- 
jority of players who, by their interest in 
the game and the support they give it, 
make possible the many fine golf courses, 
shows that they hit the ball rather than 
swing at it and sweep it away. 
Avoid While I recognize the fact that there 

ressmff ^^^ many golfers who, on account of their 
build or other physical peculiarities, can 
never acquire the true golfing stroke, I 
believe that they can materially improve 
their play by endeavoring to fashion their 

swing more in accordance with the ac- 
72 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE III— MY GRIP FOR THE DRIVE 
I grip the club in the palm of my left hand and the fingers of my right. The left 
hand grips the club firmly throughout the swing. The right hand loosens slightly at 
the top of the swing, but tightens just before the ball is struck. 



POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE 

cepted principles of the stroke as set 
down by experts. First of all, I desire 
to say as emphatically as I can, 

"Avoid pressing!" 

For the benefit of the novice, pressing 
is the effort to hit every full shot with 
every pound of strength he can transmit Pressing 
to the ball through the instrumentality of 
the club. Many golfers who play a very 
fair game wonder at their occasional 
lapses from best form when all that is 
wrong is an involuntary desire to get just 
a little more distance than they are able 
to secure with safety. 

Shortly before the amateur cham- 
pionship of 1907, I had a spell of press- 
ing and found myself topping or half 
topping many tee shots and brassies 
through the green. I had previously 
been playing very good golf and prob- 
ably became overconfident of getting the 
73 



GOLF BOOK 

ball away sweetly every time. I could 
not find out where the fault was for some 
weeks, then suddenly I discovered that I 
was carrying the club too far back on the 
up swing and losing control of it as a 
natural consequence. I gradually tamed 
down my swing and stroke and got back 
to my best game in time for the cham- 
pionship at Cleveland which I won. 
The Steady There are a few good players who press 
Driver every tee shot and drive some very long 

Wins 

balls, but what they gain in distance is 
generally secured at a sacrifice in accur- 
acy regarding direction that makes the 
transaction a bad bargain. Mere dis- 
tance in driving only plays a small part 
in the game of golf, so it is absurd to 
try to be a long player until one has ac- 
quired sufficient efficiency at medium 
distances to justify the effort. I prefer 

the short and steady driver to the long 
74 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE IV— MY GRIP FOR THE DRIVE, SECOND VIEW 
Relaxing the index fingers of both hands gives more freedom to the wrists. 




Photo Copyright iy American Press Association 

PLATE V— STANCE FOR THE DRIVE 
Showing the ball played off the right foot which is about three inches in advance of 

the left. 



POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE 

and unsteady one. The steady driver is 
not so interesting to the gallery, but he 
will always have the advantage over the 
inaccurate slugger and win the majority 
of matches. 

The first phase of the drive to be taken 
up is the tee — the bit of sand upon which 
the ball is placed before it is driven. 

I am a firm believer in a low tee. Any A Low Tee 
tee over a quarter of an inch high is ^ ^' j 
mistake, for it cannot help but cause 
trouble at other stages of the game. A 
small amount of damp sand rolled into a 
little ball and pressed down upon the 
teeing ground should be all the true 
golfer needs to steady his ball and get it 
away far and true. 

In order to get increased confidence 

with the driver and to acquire ability to 

use it from good lies through the fair 

green, I advise practice with the club 

75 



GOLF BOOK 

without any tee at all. This may be a 
little difficult at the start, but can be mas- 
tered, and when you have learned to get 
a nice long ball from a good lie on the 
turf, the luxury of a bit of sand to steady 
the ball will be more appreciated and 
give added confidence on your drives. 
Low Tee, Another distinct advantage of the low 
°"^ ^ tee is greater distance. Most players who 
can use the driver through the green have 
discovered that they get a longer ball 
than from a tee. This is because the ball, 
being hit cleanly and fairly just below 
the center, flies lower and rolls farther. 
I always try to limit my tee to just enough 
sand to give me as perfect a lie as I can 
make, in other words, to duplicate an 
ideal lie on the turf. 

In taking the position to drive the ball 
from the tee, the very first step in the 

game of golf, it is necessary to under- 
76 




Photo Copi/righl by American Press Association 

PLATE VI— STANCE FOR THE DRIVE, FRONT VIEW 
The ball should be opposite the left heel, the weight of the body resting equally upon 

both feet. 



POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE 

stand that the simple act of placing the 
feet properly on the ground in relation 
to the location of the ball on the tee in 
front of the player has a very important Three 

1 . , 1 1 • 1 • -I Primary 

bearmg on the result obtamed m strik- Positions 
ing the ball. There are three primary 
positions assumed by golfers in addressing 

o o o 




1 Off left foot \ 2. Standing open 3. Off right foot 

the ball, with slight modifications to suit 
the peculiarities of the swing of different 
individuals. 

In each of these positions it is assumed 
that the feet are placed on the ground at 
about right angles to the line of play — 
the imaginary line from the ball to the 
point it is to be driven. Some players 
77 



GOLF BOOK 

put the right foot further forward than 
the left, and others keep it well back. 
Off the Although it is possible to obtain greater 

distance from a ball played ofif the left 
foot on account of the longer sweep of 
the club to the ball, I prefer to play off 
the right. Many of the longest drivers 
prefer the former and even advocate play- 
ing the ball from a point a few inches 
to the left of the left foot. 

I find that by playing off the right foot, 
I possess much better control over the 
ball, which is a great advantage in giving 
confidence in the stroke that is to follow. 
I can see the line of play better and with 
less effort. In addition thereto, and even 
more important than all else, I find it 
easier to keep my eye on the ball. In ad- 
dressing the ball the right foot is about 
three inches in advance of the left. 

If you will place a ball opposite the 
78 




Photo Copyriqht by American Press Association 

PLATE VII— TOP OF SWING FOR THE DRIVE 

The weight is resting on the right foot, and the club is nearly parallel with the 

ground. 



POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE 

right foot, keep your eye on the ball and 
take the club back to the top of the swing 
and then do the same with the ball op- 
posite the left, you will appreciate the 
point I wish to make clear. In one case The Ball 
you can keep the ball plainly in view ^^ y^^^ 
without stretching the neck, while in the 
other there is quite an effort. When one's 
mind is apt to be more concerned about 
the state of the score and the ever-present 
desire to reach the maximum distance 
down the course, or a certain definite 
spot to be reached on the shot, every sim- 
plifying process that you can devise to 
keep the eye on the ball without effort 
is valuable. 

The only possible objection that may 
be urged against playing off the right 
foot is the natural tendency of some play- 
ers thereby to slice the ball. If this can- 
not be overcome by the grip, which I 
79 



GOLF BOOK 

shall explain later, I should advise that 
the ball be played a few inches more to 
the left. 
Distance Another important consideration in re- 

^^^ ^ gard to the stance is the matter of dis- 
tance between the player and his ball. 
In practice the experienced golfer learns 
to feel this distance intuitively, though 
the very best players occasionally make 
some slight error and get a ball off the 
toe or heel of their club. For beginners 
I may state that when my club head is 
back of the ball, ready for the drive, the 
end of the shaft when lowered strikes 
against my right leg just above the knee. 
This is an old rule, but a safe one in most 
cases. 

As many players seem to be of the opin- 
ion that it is the club, not the man who 
swings it, that gets the results, I may be 

pardoned for briefly describing my 
80 



POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE 

driver. It is forty-four inches long, and 
I prefer a tough, steely shaft with just 
enough give in it so that I can feel the 
head of the club. The leather grip on 
the club is, if anything, a shade smaller 
than the average, as I like to get my fin- 
gers well around it. My club weighs 
thirteen ounces. The face has very little 
loft, with a hitting surface two inches 
long by one and a quarter inches deep. 
The lead in the back of the club head is 
a shade toward the toe. I grip the shaft Grip for 
firmly in the palm of my left hand and 
in the fingers of the right with both first 
fingers loose and the others very tight. 
The first fingers are almost entirely free 
from the shaft, with the tips resting on 
the leather, curled inside the thumbs. 
Both thumbs are pressed firmly against 
the sides of first joints of the second fin- 
gers, forming a locking device which 



GOLF BOOK 

prevents any possible turning of the shaft. 
My Grip My theory regarding this grip is that 

^^"^ it permits greater freedom of the wrists 
and enables me to get greater power into 
the stroke without deflecting the club 
head from its proper sweep in the swing 
to the ball. As a matter of fact, I could 
not play my game if I grasped the club 
with all the fingers around the shaft as 
most players do. My whole left fore- 
arm and wrist would be so stiffened and 
rigid that I could not get any kind of a 
satisfactory snap into the stroke or a 
proper carry through. 

If you will take a club in your two 
hands and hold it firmly with all the fin- 
gers around the shaft and take a practice 
swing, and then try it with the first fin- 
gers relaxed as I have endeavored to 
describe, you will see how much more 

flexibility there is in the latter grip. 
82 




Photo Copyright bij American Press Association 



PLATE VIII— FOLLOW THROUGH OF THE DRIVE 
Showing how the weight has been shifted from the right foot to the left. 



POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE 

Various forms of grips have been em- 
ployed by prominent players, but so far 
as distance is concerned, I do not believe Grip 

versus 

one grip has much advantage over an- Distance 
other, provided both hands work in uni- 
son and permit a proper snap of the 
wrists. Some experts grip the club en- 
tirely with their fingers, while others 
overlap the little finger of the right hand 
and the first finger of the left, and other- 
wise produce a close relationship between 
the two hands. In my own case I am 
satisfied that by holding the shaft in the 
palm of my left hand and the fingers of 
the right I get a longer ball. I grip 
the club tightly with both hands. The 
right hand loosens slightly at the top of 
the swing and tightens in the downward 
swing when the club head is about two , 
feet from the ball. 
The overlapping of the fingers makes 
83 



GOLF BOOK 

Overlap- both hands work automatically as one and 
ing le undoubtedly yields better direction, but 

ringers •' -' ' 

at the sacrifice of power and distance. 
Many players who cannot apparently 
learn to make both hands work in unison 
and have no confidence in keeping their 
ball on the course, could probably im- 
prove their game by resorting to the over- 
lapping grip. 

The relative position of the hands 
around the club is always an important 
factor as controlling direction. If you 
allow the right hand to turn under more 
than the left, a pull will result, and if 
the left is under more than the right, a 
sliced ball will surely follow. The rea- 
son is that in both instances the club head 
fails to meet the ball at right angles and 
a rotary or side motion is imparted to 
the ball, which meeting the resistance of 

the air, goes to one side or the other. 
84 



POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE 

The lesson taught by the control of To Correct 
the grip is that if you are inclined to p^//'^" 
slice, turn the right hand a shade further 
under until you are able to get away a 
straight ball. If you are given to pulling 
your shots badly, a slight turning of the 
right hand further over the shaft may 
correct your trouble. In my own play, 
I always seek a straight ball, and never 
play for a slice or a pull, except, possi- 
bly, when in difficulties. For a slice I 
bring the right foot about three inches 
forward of the left and swing the club 
back, the swing being away from the 
body instead of around it. For a pull I 
do exactly the reverse: I bring the right 
foot back of the left about three inches 
and swing the club back nearer the body. 

In the golfing stroke, the swing plays 
a most important part. The movement 

must be positive, but not stiff nor too flex- 

85 



GOLF BOOK 

ible. I grip the club firmly in both hands 

and draw it back close to the ground 

with my wrists and not with the arms as 

most players do. I do not strive to keep 

the face of the club at right angles to 

the ball, but turn the face away from the 

Turning b^H with my wrists. This turning of the 
the Tf^fists 

wrists imparts greater speed to the club 
head and is the great secret of long driv- 
ing. To master this turn of the wrists is 
to add many yards to the long game. 

In regard to what may be termed the 
angle of the swing, I take the club head 
back along the ground and then around 
rather than up until the shaft is parallel 
to the ground. In coming down, the 
club describes the same curve as going 
up, the club at no time being even ap- 
proximately perpendicular. There is a 
gradual turning away of the club face 

which practically ceases at about the 
86 




Photo Copyright hy American Press Association' 
PLATE IX— FINISH OF THE DRIVE, FRONT VIEW 
The body is directly facing the hole and the full weight has been put into the stroke. 



POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE 

height of the right knee, when the club 
is facing clean in front of me. 

Many marvel at the great distance ob- Little Force 

, , 1 , but Great 

tamed by some players who appear to r^. 
use very little force on the drive. The 
reason is simple. The player getting such 
results has learned the art of knowing 
how and when to use his wrists. Most 
players have the idea that if they do not 
take the club head back with its face at 
right angles to the line of play, they will 
make a poor shot, and so, instead of strik- 
ing the ball clean and sharp, they actually 
push it, and the stroke is thus robbed of 
most of its speed and power. 

In addition to giving power to the 
stroke, the wrist action I am endeavor- 
ing to explain imparts grace and beauty 
to the swing. The turn of the wrists will 
bring the club back about one half the 
distance it must cover in the upward 
87 



GOLF BOOK 

swing, and then the arms, combined with 
the wrists, carry it the rest of the way 
until it reaches the top of the swing, 
when the knuckles of both hands are lying 
flat and uppermost, the toe of the club 
pointing down. The top of my swing is 
reached when the shaft of the club is hori- 
zontal to the ground. This limitation is 
reached by practice until it has become 
almost automatic with me. 

The Top of At the top of the swing my weight is 
the Swing ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^.j^j^^ j^^ ^j^^^^ ^^ ^^^ j^^^ 

The knuckles of both hands are upper- 
most and viewed from along the shaft 
are in a straight line and parallel with 
the ground, my right hand being slightly 
relaxed. 

The stance should be firm, the weight 
resting evenly on both feet. I do not bend 
the right leg, but keep it rigid in order 
to prevent the common fault of bending 



POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE 

to the right. As the club is drawn back, 

I bend the left knee inward and rise 

slightly on the left toe, the body turning 

on the hips. When the top of the swing 

is reached, without pausing, I start the 

downward swing, bringing the body and 

arms sharply around, and strike the ball. 

My weight is distributed evenly and the 

club head is at the height of the shoulder 

and toward the rear when the left heel 

commences to leave the ground. 

In the downward swing, much more The Follow 

power than is realized can be applied „ ^^^F, . 

without sacrificing accuracy. I throw my 

shoulders around and put them into the 

stroke. After my arms have been allowed 

to follow through a reasonable distance, 

I turn my wrists and finish the stroke over 

my left shoulder. In the downward 

swing the stroke is quickened when the 

club head is about opposite the shoulders 
89 



GOLF BOOK 

and the left hand commences to turn. At 
the instant of impact with the ball the 
hands are gripping the club as firmly and 
evenly as possible. 



90 



CHAPTER IX 

THE DRIVE— Continued 

A SUPREME COURT justice 
known to fame once stepped 
upon a tee for the first time, teed up and 
drove his first ball and holed out on his 
first shot. When told what he had done 
and how comparatively rare such a feat 
was, he promptly dropped his driver into Teeing Up 
the bag and went back to the clubhouse. ^^^ 

*'No more golf for me," he said. "If 
I should try for years I could never equal 
that shot. No more, I say; I shall rest 
on my laurels." 

In writing about the drive I found that 

I could not hole out in one chapter, and 

as the subject is very important and well 

worth the space, I shall tee up another 
91 



GOLF BOOK 

ball, metaphorically speaking, and drive 
a second time. 

Cause of A very important thing to remember is 
to keep your eye fixed on the ball 
throughout the swing and not to move 
the head. It is a well-known fact that 
more bad shots are produced by taking 
the eye off the ball than in any other way. 

Keep the If the head is kept perfectly still it is 
almost impossible to take the eye off the 
ball. It is quite natural for the player to 
look up for a final peep at the spot to 
which he hopes to send the ball, and by 
so doing miss the shot. When I am play- 
ing in any important match, I always 
keep saying to myself, "Keep your eye on 
the ball!" and if players generally would 
only do the same thing, many a match 
that has been lost might have resulted 
differently. I always keep my eye on the 

back center of the ball. 
92 



THE DRIVE CONTINUED 

A proper timing of the swing is essen- Timing of 

t 1 • • Ti- 1 '^^ Swing 

tial to consistent long driving, if the 

hands are in advance of the club head at 
the instant of contact with the ball, a slice 
is sure to come ofif and the reverse, if the 
club head meets the ball ahead of the 
hands, a pull will result. Do not be over- 
anxious and hurry the swing. Hitting 
too quickly is a great fault, especially in 
the long game. The beginner should not 
strive for distance until he has cultivated 
a good swing. Greater distance may eas- 
ily be acquired after one has learned 
to time his swing accurately to get the 
ball away cleanly. Many strokes are 
missed by pressing, or, in other words, 
trying to hit too hard. 

Long driving depends upon the speed 
of the club head when it is about two feet 
from the ball. It is a mistake to attempt 

to put power into the stroke from the top 
93 



GOLF BOOK 

of the swing. The time to put on power 
is about half-way down, so that the great- 
est speed is acquired just before and at 
the instant of contact with the ball. 
Power applied at this point is less apt to 
spoil the perfect sweep of the stroke. 

Most players get a slice on their drives. 
This is a difficult fault to correct and in 
most cases it comes from the way in 
which they swing their clubs back, and 
their failure to turn the face of the club 
away from the ball as previously indi- 
cated. 
To Correct An excellent method for overcoming 
the tendency to slice is to grip the club 
very tightly with the right hand, allow- 
ing the knuckles of the right hand to turn 
more under and keeping the left elbow 
close to the body. This will assist in 
getting the club head around before the 

hands. 

94 



THE DRIVE CONTINUED 

To drive far and true through strong Using the 

Pf^inds 

winds from different directions and to 
take advantage of the wind when it can 
be used to secure greater distance than 
would be possible under ordinary condi- 
tions is an art in itself and well worthy 
of the careful study of those ambitious of 
improving their game. 

Some players utilize a slice as well as 
a pull in their play in high winds, but I 
never use a slice except in the case of a 
ball which I wish to drop dead on a long 
shot to a green between which and my- 
self, possibly, lies a hazard. I consider 
a slice a dangerous stroke to cultivate, for 
often it is a fault very difficult to correct, 
and if you seek to use it, the practice of 
doing so may at a critical moment lead 
you to misfortune. 

A sliced ball is very much intensified 
by the wind, and when it gets through its 
95 



GOLF BOOK 

forward motion often goes surprisingly 
Playing far off to the right. On the other hand, 
a pulled ball is always under better con- 
trol and may be counted on to gain 
greater distance under nearly all condi- 
tions. I play nearly all my full shots 
with a suggestion of pull on them to hold 
the ball low and get the roll. 

My treatment of the shot through a 
cross-wind from the right is to play for a 
pull, with an allowance for the wind. In 
other words, I am at a point more or less 
to the right of the line according to the 
strength of the wind. The wind and the 
pull will bring the ball back to the center 
of the course, and when it reaches the 
ground it will roll forward for a long dis- 
tance, assisted by the rotation toward the 
hole imparted by the pull and aided by 
the wind. 

Under similar conditions many players 
96 



THE DRIVE CONTINUED 

seek a slice to neutralize the effect of the Pulled and 

. , , , ,, . . n- 1 f 1 Sliced Balls 

Wind on the ball in its flight, but by so 
doing lose much distance, as the ball re- 
sists the wind all the way and when it 
drops will stop dead. The principle in- 
volved should be easy for anyone to un- 
derstand. A pulled ball rotates from 
right to left in flight and consequently 
slides gracefully through a wind from 
the right and is assisted by it, while a 
sliced ball rotates from left to right and 
is constantly resisting the wind all the 
way, losing carrying power and force 
thereby. 

To meet conditions where a strong 
wind is coming from the left, I play for 
a perfectly straight shot aimed a shade to 
the left of the line, so that the wind will 
bring it back to the center of the course. 
A straight ball will carry farthest 

through such a wind and when it reaches 
97 



GOLF BOOK 

the ground will roll some distance, as- 
sisted by the wind. Many players try for 
a pulled ball under similar conditions to 
hold the ball true to the line. This is 
open to objections, for the reason that 
such a ball rotating from right to left is 
resisting the wind all the way and loses 
power and distance. Sometimes when 
playing in a very strong gale, when dis- 
tance is not so much of a factor as safety 
in the play of a hole, I play for a pull. 
Any inclination to slice with the wind 
from the left will be so accentuated that 
the ball will probably go beyond the 
right-hand edge of the fair green. As I 
have stated before, a straight ball is best 
for safety and distance, and one with a 
shade of hook is easiest to hold the fair 
green. 
Against Playing against the wind, it is neces- 

the Jf^ ind 

sary to get a low ball to gain any satis- 
98 



THE DRIVE CONTINUED 

factory distance. I play it well off my 
right foot, seeking a low, slightly hooked 
ball, commonly known as a "wind- 
cheater." A hooked ball always flies low 
and may be safely counted on to avoid 
the real force of the wind found over 
twenty feet above the ground. In this 
stroke the distribution of the weight is a 
very important factor. The weight 
should be more on the left foot than the 
right, and the club should be swung back 
low to the ground, with the arms taking 
it around the body. This flat swing back 
of the club also tends to keep the ball To Keep 

1 rr^i 1 • 1 .,,.,.. ihe Ball 

low. 1 he thmg to be avoided m drivmg ^^^ 
into the wind is the dropping of the right 
shoulder, which will always result in a 
badly skied ball which will ride high on 
the breeze and when its forward power is 
finished will drop back of the point it 

reached on the carry. The wind must be 
99 



GOLF BOOK 

pierced by the ball at the point of least 

resistance to secure distance, and this is 

as low down to the ground as you can 

possibly manage to get it and be sure of 

hitting it well. 

Down the Strange as it may seem, many players 
Wind 

find it extremely difficult to take advan- 
tage of a strong following wind. This is 
chiefly owing to the fact that they seek to 
hit the ball too hard and consequently 
press. Then, again, there is some resist- 
ance of the wind on the club head in the 
back swing that deflects the head from 
the true line when it meets the ball. In 
playing down the wind, I tee the ball a 
shade higher than usual, and, taking 
things easy, try to get the ball away 
cleanly. For this stroke the swing back 
should be more vertical than for the or- 
dinary drive, in order to be sure of get- 
ting the ball up. If it be hit cleanly and 

100 



THE DRIVE CONTINUED 

accurately the wind will assist it both in 
its flight and roll. A slight hook on the 
shot is advantageous in increasing the 
roll. Above all things, do not press be- 
fore the wind unless you are absolutely 
sure of getting the ball up. Great feats 
in the way of distance have been accom- 
plished playing before the wind, and 
there is wonderful fascination in trying 
to reach spots further out than ever be- 
fore attained under such conditions, but 
except for the sport of the thing it is not 
safe or winning golf. 

Topping the drive is caused in most Topped 
cases by failure to keep the eye on the 
ball. Then, again, some players top their 
drives by pulling their arms up just be- 
fore the instant of contact by the club 
head with the ball. This upward move- 
ment causes the club head to strike the 
top quarter of the ball and not its back 

lOI 



GOLF BOOK 

center. Players who press their tee shots 
frequently get a topped ball through hit- 
ting so hard that the eye is momentarily 
taken off the ball. 

The best cure for a spell of topping is 
to moderate the force of the swing, and 
to look underneath or immediately back 
of the ball. Seek to get the ball accur- 
ately on the center of the face of the club, 
regardless of distance, until you have re- 
gained confidence in the stroke. An aid 
to this is to chalk the face of your club, 
which will plainly indicate where the 
ball is met by the club. When it is re- 
membered that in the drive the player 
has everything to his liking, a teed ball 
and a comfortable stance of his own se- 
lection, it must be conceded that it should 
be the easiest shot of the game. 
Sclajfed As in topped drives, most sclaffed shots 

Drives ^j.g c^used by taking the eye off the ball. 

102 



THE DRIVE CONTINUED 

A dropping of the right shoulder during 
the swing also brings the club to the turf 
before the ball is reached. Still another 
cause for sclaffing is standing too near 
the ball, when the club head is dug into 
the ground back of the ball, owing to the 
lack of room between the player and the 
ball. The best cure for sclaffing is to 
moderate the stroke and to keep the eye 
on the front center of the ball, or even 
an inch or two in advance of it, if neces- 
sary. By holding the left elbow fairly 
close in toward the body in the address, 
and by keeping the right shoulder in its 
proper place during the swing, this fault 
can be readily corrected. 

In further explanation of what is "The Snap 
known as the turn of the wrists, I may °:J^^ . ^ „ 
add that the first movement is to swing 
the club head just above the ground as 

far as the left forearm will go without 
103 



GOLF BOOK 

rising. In this movement there is no 
turning of the wrists as the term is gen- 
erally understood, but the movement is 
one in which the forearms, wrists and 
hands all act together, in a gradual turn- 
ing over of both hands so that the 
knuckles of the left hand are more above 
than in the address. At the same time 
the right hand turns over so that the palm 
is uppermost, with a slight backward 
bending of the wrist. This brings the 
club head up about to the level of the 
hip, with its face pointing almost straight 
in front of me. Then I continue the up- 
ward movement with the arms, which 
ends with the shaft of the club being 
parallel with the ground and its toe point- 
ing downward. At the top of the swing 
the right hand is slightly relaxed. In the 
downward swing, the hands, arms, and 

wrists automatically, without any con- 
104 



THE DRIVE CONTINUED 

scious effort, practically duplicate in re- 
verse the movement described in going 
back and up. 

Some players have a wrong conception 
of what is known as the "snap of the 
wrists" and bend their wrists instead of 
turning them over as described, in a vain 
effort to impart a snap to the stroke, 
which is a dangerous performance at best 
and does not impart any increased power 
or speed to the stroke. 



105 



CHAPTER X 
HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE 



O 



N all first-class golf courses it is 
customary to lay out some holes 
requiring the use of a wooden club for 
the second shot in order to reach a distant 
green, or get in position for a short ap- 
proach on a very long hole. After the 
drive it very frequently happens that the 
ball is found in a lie that precludes the 
use of the driver, and calls for a club bet- 
ter adapted to get a quick rise of the ball 
and cut its way through the turf. 
Using the When the ball is in a perfect lie you 
should use your driver, taking the iden- 
tical stance and swing as in the tee shot. 
A driver, however, is only recommended 

when the lie is perfect, or when an effort 
io6 



Driver 




PUoto Copyright iy American Press Association 
PLATE X— ADDRESS FOR A BRASSIE SHOT 
Right foot advanced, ball opposite the left heel. 



HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE 

for extra distance must be risked by the 
state of the score. If it be possible to 
reach the green or make the required dis- 
tance by playing either your brassie or 
driver, by all means use the brassie be- 
cause it is a safer shot, and you have far 
better control of the ball. 

As lies through the fair green depend To Get a 
largely on chance, it frequently happens 
that the ball will be found lying very 
close to the ground, or in some slight cup 
or depression. In order to get it up 
sweetly you will be forced to adopt a dif- 
ferent swing. To assist in imparting a 
quick rise to the ball, the swing back 
should be more vertical, the eye being 
kept, not on the ball itself, but on the 
ground directly behind it. Stand closer 
than in driving, with the ball nearer the 
left foot. If the lie be reasonably good, 

though near the ground in a slightly 
107 



GOLF BOOK 

cuppy spot, it is not necessary to take 
turf; but if it be poor, you are compelled 
to dig out a bit of turf behind the ball. 
It is very important that the shaft of the 
brassie be strong and stiff to prevent it 
being deflected when it comes in contact 
with the ground, which would cause a 
slice or a pull on the stroke. 
Playing a In order to provide for emergencies 
Cuppy Lie against the danger of breaking your bras- 
sie in playing such lies, it is well to carry 
an extra one in your bag. The lighter 
and more whippy your brassie is, the 
greater the likelihood there is to break it 
and to find yourself greatly handicapped 
by being deprived of its use if you have 
not another at hand. 

In playing a cuppy lie, select some spot 
on the ground directly behind the ball 
and keep your eye on this spot throughout 

the swing, and not on the ball. Your 
io8 



HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE 

club head should enter the turf at this 
spot, and when you feel that it is well 
under the ball turn your wrists up 
quickly. It is imperative that both hands Firm Grip 
should be gripping firmly when the club „ , 
comes in contact with the ground to avoid 
any tendency it may have to turn and send 
the ball flying off to the right or the left. 
Many beginners find it extremely diffi- 
cult to learn to use the brassie effectively 
for the reason that they seem to think it 
is a radically different club from the 
driver. The main trouble lies in their 
failure to keep the eye on the back center 
of the ball or on the ground just back of 
the ball throughout the swing. If they 
would but make up their minds to seek 
not more than seventy-five yards on the 
stroke at the start and devote their entire 
attention to an eflfort to get the ball ac- 
curately off the center of the club head 
109 



GOLF BOOK 

with a perfectly natural and easy stroke, 
they would rapidly master the brassie 
shot. 
Advice for One of the first things for the novice 
the Novice ^^ learn about the brassie is when not to 
use it. When the lie is bad, or when the 
ball lies in fairly long grass, or when the 
bunker ahead is so near that the ball may 
not rise quickly enough to clear it, the 
beginner will be wise if he uses the safer 
mid-iron instead of the brassie. Another 
thing to be avoided by the novice, or aver- 
age player, is the inclination to press, and 
thus take the eye off the ball or the spot 
immediately back of it. It is far better 
to get a straight ball down the center of 
the course than to press and either top, 
sclaff, slice or pull. By virtue of plenty 
of practice he should gradually become 
certain of getting reasonable distance with 

accuracy, and he can then afford to apply 
no 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XI— STANCE FOR THE BRASSIE, SIDE VIEW 
Keep your eye on the back center of the ball and do not press. 



HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE 

more speed to the stroke, and attempt 
longer shots with chances of bringing 
them off with consistency sufficient to 
compensate for the occasional wild one 
out-of-bounds or into trouble. 

In the hands of an expert the brassie is The Great 
a remarkably useful club for accomplish- q^^^ 
ing brilliant recoveries in the way of long 
shots out of fairly high grass, out of shal- 
low sand traps and for long shots sliced 
or pulled around clumps of trees. It is a 
club upon which the player may almost 
uniformly depend for getting the ball 
quickly up from the ground, as easily as 
with a mid-iron; but for longer distances 
and with less physical exertion. All golf- 
ers ambitious of improving their game 
should devote hours and days to practice 
with the brassie until they get absolute 
confidence in handling it. When the 

player has once mastered it he may feel 
III 



L 



tes 



GOLF BOOK 

sure of cutting many strokes off his aver- 
age card for the round. 
Hanging Great difficulty is experienced by every 

golfer in learning how to play hanging 
and side hill lies with the brassie, but the 
player who through diligent and pains- 
taking practice has successfully solved 
these problems, should have every reason 
to feel proud of his proficiency, for he 
has mastered one of the most difficult 
shots of the game. The brassie is a most 
valuable club, saving more strokes for 
the player than any other club. It fre- 
quently happens that at some hole calling 
for a full second shot with a bunker 
guarding the way to the green, one man 
finds it necessary to play short, while his 
more proficient opponent plays a full 
brassie, carries the hazard and reaches 
the green. 

In playing a hanging lie where the 

112 



HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE 

ground slopes toward the point you seek 
to reach, the chief difficulty is to get the 
ball up cleanly without digging into the 
turf back of it. I stand with the ball on The Proper 
a straight line with my left heel, the right ^/"c^ ^ 
foot being about three inches in advance 
of the left. I then allow my right knee 
to bend slightly and have the weight of 
my body resting more on the left leg be- 
cause the slight bending of the right knee 
tends to equalize the position of the shoul- 
ders in relation to the pitch of the land, 
and because the left leg's rigidity pre- 
vents the tendency to fall forward and top 
the ball when power is put on the down 
swing. The swing back should be more 
vertical than in the tee shot and more out 
from the body than around it. Just as 
the club head comes in contact with the 
ball, draw in your arms and finish out to- 
ward the left, which will cause the ball 
113 



GOLF BOOK 

to slice a bit, but it will rise quickly, 
which is the chief point desired. It is 
obvious that an allowance for the slice 
must be made by aiming toward the left 
of the line. Holding your wrists well 
down and getting the ball slightly off the 
heel of the club will aid it in rising. 

Keep the eye on a point on the ground 
behind the ball throughout the swing. 
If your opponent's play has placed you 
in a position where in order to save the 
hole it is necessary to gain extra distance, 
you are justified in making the effort, but 
under ordinary conditions it is danger- 
ous to strive for a long ball from a hang- 
ing lie. 
Side Hill The greatest difficulty in properly 
playing side hill lies where the ball is 
above or below the player, comes from 
the tendency to lose one's equilibrium 

during the swing. This falling backward 
114 



Lies 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 
PLATE XII— FOLLOW THROUGH WITH THE BRASSIE 
At the finish of the swing the body is shown turned directly toward the hne of play. 



HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE 

or forward, as the case may be, will in- 
variably cause a slice or a pull. The 
harder you seek to hit the ball from a 
side-hill lie, the harder it is to keep your 
balance and the greater the unlikelihood 
of getting a cleanly hit straight ball. 
Until you have learned to properly exe- Faithful 
cute these difficult side-hill strokes with ,, 

Necessary 

reasonable accuracy you are at the mercy 
of the more proficient player who can do 
so. When you have a little spare time, 
instead of playing around the links, take 
your brassie and a few dozen balls and 
go forth and diligently practice these dif- 
ferent lies. Don't be discouraged if im- 
provement appear well-nigh impossible 
at first, but stick to your practice until 
you have mastered the difficulties. You 
can never learn how to play properly un- 
til you have learned every stroke in the 
game by assiduous practice. 
115 



GOLF BOOK 

With Ball When the stroke must be made along 
Below You ^ gj^g j^.jj ^j^gj.g ^j^g ^j^jj .g siigt^tiy below 

where you stand to address it, stand with 

the ball about opposite the middle of the 

body, with the right foot on the line and 

the left foot about two inches back. In 

other words, the left foot is about two 

inches back of the right. When I wrote 

the above I had in mind the position of 

my feet on a whitewashed line on the 

ground parallel to the line of play as 

shown in the illustrations. By the use 

of this line one may accurately ascertain 

the relative positions of the feet. 

The main thing to avoid is the tendency 

of the body to fall forward or down hill, 

or toward the ball, thereby causing it to 

slice when the heel of the club comes in 

contact with it. Therefore, get a firm 

stance and endeavor to keep the body, 

shoulders, arms and hands in the proper 
ii6 



HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE 

plane throughout the swing. By plane I The Proper 
mean the sweep of the club to the ball, ^^pi^i^^^ 
and this sweep should be an exact dupli- 
cation of the backward swing. When 
putting power into the stroke on the for- 
ward swing one is apt to slightly lose his 
balance and thereby distort the perfect 
movement of the club through the plane 
of its swing. The golfer must seek to 
keep his hands in exactly the same plane 
coming down as going up, but even more 
so than when playing on level ground. 

In playing a ball that is lying below 
you there is a tendency on the back swing 
to throw the arms out from the body, and 
in the down swing the club will come 
across the ball, causing a slice. 

Any effort toward pressing on this 

stroke will intensify the likelihood to lose 

the balance and get a sliced shot. In 

order to equalize the tendency to slice, it 
117 



Above You 



GOLF BOOK 

is well to make a slight allowance for it 
and aim a shade to the left of the line of 
play. 

With Ball Just the reverse of the foregoing, where 
the ball is above you, you are inclined to 
fall back from it in the stroke, and by so 
doing hit the ball with the toe of the club 
resulting in a pull. It is difficult to 
swing back away from the body and very 
natural to swing back close to the body 
with the result that the ball is pulled. 
Stand with the ball about opposite the 
right heel (maybe an inch or two to the 
left of it) with the left foot four inches 
back of the right. Stand firm and en- 
deavor to keep the body, shoulders, arms 
and hands in the proper plane throughout 
the stroke, to avoid falling away. Seek to 
get the ball off the center of the club head 
and get its heel well down without cut- 
ting the toe of the club into the ground. 
ii8 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XIII— INCORRECT TOP OF SWING WITH THE BRASSIE 
The club is too vertical. It should be almost parallel with the ground. See Plate 
VII for correct back swing. 



HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE 

As there is the ever-present inclination 
to pull, it is well to make a slight allow- 
ance by aiming at a point just a shade to 
the right of the line of play when at- 
tempting this stroke. 

Where the play is uphill and the ball The Uphill 
must be cleanly picked up at the start, 
stand with the ball an inch or two to the 
right of opposite the center of the body, 
with the right foot about four inches back 
of the left. The weight is then put more 
on the right foot than the left and effort 
made to prevent any falling back that 
would result in a badly topped ball. 
Draw the club back close to the ground 
at the start and take some turf after hit- 
ting the ball. If the going is very 
sharply up hill, keep the eye on a point 
back of the ball and take some turf with 
the ball. In this stroke the effort should 
be to get the ball up quickly, but not any 
119 



GOLF BOOK 

higher than is necessary to clear the hill 
and get the carry you desire. 
To Get a A very useful stroke with the brassie is 

Dead Ball , -. t ^ - u 

to use It for a longish carry to a green in 

a wind from the right, by deliberately 

playing for a slice. The ball goes for its 

usual distance through the air, but when 

it comes to earth it gets very little roll. 

Play the ball off a point about opposite 

the left heel, and at the instant of contact 

draw the hands in a bit. Allowance must 

be made for the slice partly neutralized 

by the wind. This shot is particularly 

effective for a long approach to a green 

over a hazard just in front of it. 

Now and then a brassie shot with a 

proper amount of hook or pull imparted 

to it is very useful. For example, one of 

the finest shots of this character I ever 

made was at Garden City in 1908 in my 

match against Walter J. Travis in the 
120 



HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE 

semi-finals of the national championship. 
Travis had me 2 down and 4 to play, a 
very substantial lead, but I captured the 
next two holes and we were all square. 
At the next tee I got a good drive and 
what followed was described by Travis 
himself in an article in "The American 
Golfer" for April, 1909. After gener- 
ously stating that he could testify from 
personal experience to my "remarkable 
skill with this club" (the brassie), he 
wrote : 

"Just take, for instance, his second shot // Difficult 
on the seventeenth hole at Garden City in 
last year's (1908) championship in the 
semi-final round. The match was all 
even. He was some 240 yards at least 
from the hole, which was on the right- 
hand side of the green, with a row of trees 
bordering the line of play to the right, 

directly paralleling it. And trouble to 
121 



GOLF BOOK 

the left. The least bit of a mistake meant 
disaster — the loss of at least a stroke — per- 
haps the loss of the hole! And how su- 
perbly he rose to the occasion! His shot 
was truly magnificent! Played boldly, 
with a suggestion of hook, it gave him a 
putt for a 3 — and virtually settled the 
match." 

It did settle the match. I finished two 
up and then defeated Max Behr 8 up and 
7 to play in the final round for the cham- 
pionship itself. 
The The spoon is a club with many features 

bpoon q£ j.j^g brassie, generally with a longer 

face and slightly more lofted. I never 
use a spoon, because I believe it tends to 
spoil a man's game by leading him to 
spare his shots and shorten his game. I 
prefer to use the right club for the dis- 
tance I wish to make, hitting the ball 
squarely and accurately with about the 

122 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XIV— STANCE FOR HANGING LIE WITH THE BRASSIE 

Showing the right foot well in advance of the left. Keep the eye fixed on the 
ground immediately back of the ball. 



HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE 

same effort every time. Some players use 
spoons for cleek shots and shorter shafted 
ones more laid back for mid-iron strokes, 
but I have never found any necessity for 
learning how to use two clubs to get about 
the same result. For the player of slight 
physique, or for older players, the spoon 
provides a method of getting greater dis- 
tance with less muscular effort than cleeks 
and irons, but for the younger player and 
for men of normal strength, my theory is The Spared 
that irons are best. I believe in practi- j. , 
cally playing every full shot for all it is 
worth, and do not favor three-quarter 
shots or half shots with a stronger club. 
Play the right club for the distance and 
hit every stroke firmly and hard. On 
short approaches there must be a varia- 
tion in power, but wooden clubs should 
be used for their maximum distance 

safely inside the boundary of pressing. 
123 



rr\] 



CHAPTER XI 
HOW TO PLAY THE CLEEK 

IHE cleek is the most powerful iron 

in the bag and is a close rival of 

the wooden ones as a distance gainer. 

The Most My cleek has a shaft two inches shorter 

Fowerfu ^^^^ ^^ driver, weighs about sixteen 

ounces and is heavier than either the 
driver or brassie. Also, it has an unusu- 
ally short face. Because of a mistaken 
idea that the spring of the shaft gives ad- 
ditional distance, many players use cleeks 
with whippy shafts. Such shafts, I be- 
lieve, are responsible for a great deal of 
bad play with the cleek. As accuracy of 
direction is more important than mere 
distance at most stages of the game, it is 
ridiculous to use whippy shafts in cleeks 

or any other clubs. 

124 



HOW TO PLAY THE CLEEK 

The more whippy the shaft the less Evils of 

chance one has of getting away a per- _,, f^^ 

Clubs 

fectly straight ball, because the give of 
the shaft at different parts of the swing 
is apt to permit the head of the club to 
come to the ball at a different angle from 
the one sought in the address. If you will 
make a practice swing with a particularly 
whippy club you will note that both at 
the top of the swing, and at a point about 
half-way down to the ball, there is a bend 
to the shaft sufficient to materially change 
the angle of the club head as it meets the 
ball. When the ball is hit, particularly 
as turf should be taken after contact on 
all cleek shots, there is a third give of the 
shaft that is very apt to result in faulty 
direction. 

If your hands are in advance of the 
club when it comes in contact with the 
ball, it stands to reason that the more 

125 



GOLF BOOK 

whip you get from the shaft the more in- 
tensified will be the inclination to slice. 
Who ever saw a. player putting with a 
whippy shaft? To my mind it is as fool- 
ish to use a whippy shaft in a cleek or 
any other club as it would be to use it in 
a putter. 

Back Swing 

j^Qj-g In making a cleek stroke, stand closer 

Vertical j-q ^^q ]^2i\\ than when using the driver, 
playing it more to the right, with the 
right foot well advanced and the left foot 
about five inches back of it. The swing 
is practically the same as in the drive, ex- 
cept that the club is not carried back 
quite so far. The backward swing is 
more vertical, and while with the drive 
the effort is to swish the ball away, the 
cleek stroke is more of a hit or chop. 
Strike firmly into the ball with a strong 
effort to follow through and get into the 

turf after contact with the ball. 
126 




Photo Copyright by Atnerican Press Association. 

PLATE XV— ADDRESS WITH CLEEK 
The grip is exactly the same as that for th^ drive but the right foot is further 

advanced. 



HOW TO PLAY THE CLEEK 

The difference between the cleek shot 
and shots with the driver ,and brassie is 
that with the former the ball is hit first 
and then you take turf as you follow 
through, whereas with the wooden clubs 
the efifort is to pick the ball off the turf, 
except in the case of a cuppy lie where 
the turf is sometimes taken before hitting 
the ball. When a cleek shot is properly 
made the ball will go off with great 
speed, traveling comparatively low, and The Stance 

, , , , 1 1 1 1 f Should Be 

may be depended upon to hold the Ime p^^^^ 

with accuracy. The stance should be 

very firm and the weight should rest 

fairly even on both feet. At the start of 

the backward swing turn the wrists over 

as with the driver, but do not allow the 

left foot to rise on the toe off the ground 

as in the tee shot. Try to keep the left 

foot well rooted to the ground, for this 

will overcome the tendency of lifting 
127 



GOLF BOOK 

the body in the stroke, a habit which fre- 
quently leads to a bad shot 

The left heel rises, but only slightly, 
and the pressure on the ground is through 
the inner edge of the ball of the foot, 
rather than on the toe, as in the tee shot. 
Turn the body from the waist up, keep- 
ing the head perfectly still and hold the 
eye on the back center of the ball. Do 
not try to pick up the ball as on the drive, 
but hit at it accurately and take some 
turf, and then follow through firmly and 
positively. 
Hit and Most players use a cleek as if they 

Take Turf ^gj-g trying to hit a ball off a putting 
green without injuring the turf. This, 
I think, accounts for their poor direction 
and weak strokes regarding distance. 
Hit the ball, take some turf and follow 
through, keeping the eye on the back 

center of the ball. If you play the shot 
128 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 
PLATE XVI— ADDRESS WITH THE CLEEK, SIDE VIEW 
The ball should be about opposite the center of the body, the right foot well in 

advance of the left. 



HOW TO PLAY THE CLEEK 

in this way you will find that the cleek is 
a very useful and dependable weapon to 
have in your bag. Most players never 
get acquainted with the cleek, and when- Useful and 

, Dependable 

ever they decide to try a shot with it, do pf/^apon 
so with fear and trembling and in many 
instances their over-anxiety leads to mis- 
fortune. 

Grip the cleek firmly with both hands 
to prevent it from turning when it comes 
in contact with the ground after the ball 
is struck. The right hand relaxes its grip 
slightly at the top of the swing, but 
tightens again in the downward swing as 
speed is applied and the ball is hit. A 
common fault with cleek play is dropping 
the right shoulder, which causes the club 
head to strike the ground before reaching 
the ball, and kills the possibilities of the 
shot. To correct this error, stand an inch 

or two further away from the ball and 
129 



GOLF BOOK 

endeavor to keep the right shoulder in its 
true plane throughout the swing. In 
cleek play in the different conditions of 
wind and for hanging and side-hill lies, 
the explanations previously given for the 
driver and brassie under identical condi- 
tions apply, with the very slight differ- 
ence in the swing back and hitting of the 
ball, as indicated. 
Driving- Personally, I prefer a driving-iron in 

Iron Versus , r i i t 't'u r 

^, place of a regular cleek. Ihe face, in- 

stead of being long and narrow like the 
standard cleek, is deep and short and is, 
perhaps, laid back a shade less. The face 
is about one-quarter of an inch deeper 
than the ordinary cleek, and the head is 
about one-quarter of an inch shorter. A 
much lower ball can be driven with this 
driving-iron, and when there is a high 
wind a low ball is of great assistance. I 

seem to possess better control over the 
130 




.-J- 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 



PLATE XVII— TOP OF THE SWING WITH THE CLEEK 

Showing the weight distributed between b^th feet, the left heel rising but slightly. 



HOW TO PLAY THE CLEEK 

flight of the ball with my driving-iron 
than with a regular cleek, and so prefer 
to use it. 

In my own game the driving-iron, or 
cleek, plays a very important part, and Good for 
I play it with full confidence regarding ^^^^ ^°" 
direction, which frequently enables me 
to lay a ball close up to the pin on a very 
long approach to a green. I get a ball 
almost as long as with a brassie, but more 
uniformly straight on the line, with a fine 
roll. 

This shot is not a very difficult one, but 
few players nowadays make it, and in con- 
sequence it has won many a hole for me. 
I have devoted much practice to the 
stroke, and as a demonstration of its all- 
around ability I may state that I played 
the entire links of the Montclair Golf 
Club in 77 strokes, using my driving-iron 

alone for every shot from the tee, through 
131 



GOLF BOOK 

the green, for approaches, out of bunkers 
and for putting. 
Driving On many courses there are holes where 

ron rom -^ -^ ^j^gQiy^gly dangerous to use a driver 

from the tee, where the player gets into 
trouble if his ball go too far. For in- 
stance, at Garden City there are some 
holes where a long player is heavily pun- 
ished by a full tee shot. During the 
championship of 1908 I used my driving- 
iron from several of the tees with good 
effect where I wanted a drive of slightly 
over 200 yards, but where one of 240 
would have landed me in a bunker or 
stretch of long grass, and perhaps, penal- 
ized me a stroke. 

In the championship at Wheaton, in 
191 2, I was decidedly ofif my game so far 
as the wooden clubs were concerned. The 
course was narrow, and in the finals 

against Charles Evans, Jr., I practically 
132 



HOW TO PLAY THE CLEEK 

used my driving-iron from the tees. 
Both rounds on the tenth hole, which is 
240 yards, I reached the green with my 
driving-iron. 



133 



CHAPTER XII 

THE GOLFER'S FAVORITE CLUB, THE 
MID-IRON 



T 



<HE mid-iron is the Jack-of-All- 
Trades of golf. One can drive, 
approach, putt and even get out of a rea- 
The Star in sonable amount of trouble v^ith it. In 
^ one-club contests it plays the star part, 

for a golfer armed with this single imple- 
ment of his favorite sport can go round 
the entire eighteen holes in such low fig- 
ures, comparatively speaking, that he 
wonders why the other clubs were in- 
vented. As a matter of fact, however, it 
is not the equal of the driver and brassie 
for distance, it is far inferior to the 
mashie for shots that require lofting, and 

as an ever-present help in trouble it by 
134 




Photo Copyright by AmeHcan Press Assoctatton 

PLATE XVIII— ADDRESS FOR A MID-IRON SHOT 
The ball is about opposite the center of the body, the grip the same as for the drive. 



GOLFER'S FAVORITE CLUB 

no means supplants the mashie niblick. 
Nevertheless, as the marine is the Handy 
Man of the British Navy, the mid-iron is 
the Handy Club of golf. Furthermore, 
although the iron clubs include the cleek, 
driving-iron, mid-iron, jigger, mashie, 
mashie niblick and putter, the mid-iron 
alone has won the distinction of being re- 
ferred to as "the iron." 
The mid-iron is the favorite club of Easiest 

, , X T 1 J Club in the 

most golfers. In my own case 1 would d 
rather play a full iron shot up to the hole 
than any other stroke in the game. When 
the caddie hands me the iron I feel sure 
that the chances of bringing off a success- 
ful shot are largely in my favor. Differ- 
ent golfers excel with different kinds of 
clubs and on different strokes. It does not 
matter so much regarding the length, loft 
or shape of the club, as that the player by 
reason of much practice with it acquires 



GOLF BOOK 

confidence that he can get just such re- 
sults with his favorite club nearly every 
time he makes a stroke with it. The ma- 
jority of golfers find that the iron is tha 
easiest club in the bag to play with. They 
can almost invariably get the ball up 
cleanly and away. This simplicity is due 
to the fact that a comparatively short 
swing is used, and the loft of the club 
represents the normal, between the cleek 
and the mashie. The face is not as 
straight up and down as the cleek, nor 
as much laid back as the mashie. It is 
perfectly designed to hit the ball by the 
simplest sort of a stroke, get it up cleanly 
and for fair distance. 
The Stiff In an article elsewhere on the cleek I 
^^^' have pointed out the desirability of using 

a stiff shaft. This matter of shafts, to my 
mind, is of great importance, and too 

much cannot be written on the subject. 
136 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XIX— TOP OF SWING OF MID-IRON SHOT 

The left leg remains rigid and the club should not be taken back quite so far as in a. 

cleek shot. 



GOLFER'S FAVORITE CLUB 

Whenever I see a man using a club with 
a whippy shaft, I always feel that he is 
laboring under a heavy additional handi- 
cap. If you will stop to consider that 
accuracy is more essential to good golf Accuracy 
than mere distance, particularly when r»-^ 

' ^ ■' Distance 

playing iron shots, you will readily un- 
derstand that with a shaft which permits 
the club head to whip from side to side, 
it is a mere matter of luck whether you 
meet the ball squarely on its face or not. 
My iron is 38^ inches long, one inch 
shorter than my cleek, and I stand a little 
nearer the ball when using it. The 
weight of my iron is 15 ounces. I play 
the ball from about opposite the center 
of my body, with the right foot advanced 
about three inches farther than the left. 
The weight of the body is more on the 
right than on the left foot. 

The swing with the iron is practically 
137 



GOLF BOOK 

a duplication of that with a cleek, with 
two exceptions. The club is not swung 
back so far and the back swing is a shade 
more vertical. 
Eye on the Keep the eye on the back center of the 

f th ^B II ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ head still — that old warning 
which we hear so often, and so often dis- 
regard at some critical stage of the game, 
and make a defective stroke. 

In playing an iron shot, the matter of 
keeping the eye on the ball is of more 
than ordinary importance. To get sat- 
isfactory results the ball must be very 
accurately hit, and this cannot be done 
if the eye is not on the ball. The iron 
stroke, like that of the cleek shot, is more 
of a hit than a sweep. The club itself 
should be gripped firmly with both 
hands, with the wrists stiff when the club 
head comes in contact with the ball. 

Remember, that as in all other iron 
138 



GOLFER'S FAVORITE CLUB 

shots, you must hit the ball firmly and ^^^' ^*^" 

Take Turf 

then take some turf and follow through. 
If you learn to do this you will get a 
longer and straighter ball than if you 
merely try to pick the ball cleanly off the 
turf as most players do. 

Another important factor in iron play 
is that of always making a sufficiently 
strong shot to insure being up to the hole. 
This is essential on all approach shots. 
Far too many players are satisfied when 
playing an approach if they can get the 
ball near or on the green. They lose 
sight of the main purpose of all ap- 
proaches—the desirability of aiming at 
the hole rather than merely to get on the 
green. At one time I felt the same way 
myself concerning the approach shot. 
About seven years ago I was following a 
well-known golfer in company with other 
spectators. I noticed that whenever he 
139 



GOLF BOOK 

played his approach shots, he played not 
for the green but for the pin itself. This 
was plainly visible by the careful way in 
which he sought a certain line to the near 
edge of the green or just short of it, with 
allowance for the run to the cup. He 
would make exactly the right allowance 
on shot after shot, and get down in one 
putt on enough greens to convince me 
that this was the secret of the highest 
grade of golf. 
Play for Since that time I have devoted much 

attention to practicing this approach shot 
to the pin, and I now think it is the 
strongest part of my game. From the 
very day I first took it up I could see a 
marked improvement in my scoring. To 
put a bit of golf wisdom into verse, 

Aim for the hole, 
Allow for the roll! 

Many well-known writers on golf 
140 



the Pin 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XX— FINISH AND FOLLOW THROUGH OF MID-IRON SHOT 

Remember to hit the ball first and tftke turf in the follow through. 



GOLFER'S FAVORITE CLUB 

recommend the cultivation of the half- 
iron shot. That is to say, they spare the 
shot when the distance sought is too short The Half- 

. -. ,, . 1 f , ,, Iron Shot 

for a full iron, and too great for a full 
mashie. This shot is one of the most diffi- 
cult strokes to master to the extent of 
securing dependable consistency of exe- 
cution from it. It is very hard to prop- 
erly time the stroke. To my mind it is a 
very hazardous and unreliable shot to 
attempt in a close match. Naturally, in 
the half-iron stroke the club is not taken 
back as far as in the full stroke. Upon 
the prolongation of the back swing de- 
pends altogether the amount of distance 
that is to be gained on the shot. The 
wrists, instead of bending, are kept rather 
rigid. The body, also, is kept still, arid 
there is less pivoting or turning of the 
body from the hips up, than on the full 

shot. Instead of raising up on the right 
141 



GOLF BOOK 

foot, that foot should be kept well rooted 
to the ground. The right leg should be 
kept still. 

Unless you have mastered the shot, 
which it may take you years to do, you 
will find it very hard to hold the ball on 
line on account of the difficulty of prop- 
erly timing the shot. As I have stated 
elsewhere in this book, I do not believe in 
spared shots, and I seldom use the half- 
iron stroke unless there is a very strong 
head wind. In place of spared shots with 
the mid-iron, I use the jigger and get 
far better results. 
To Get a It often happens that it is necessary to 
Fulled Ball p^jj your second shot with a mid-iron in 
order to reach the green. Some obstacle, 
such as a tree or a grove of trees, juts out 
into the line between you and the hole. 
In other situations you may find the hole 

laid out at an angle, and if you do not 

142 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XXI— HOW THE CLUB SHOULD TURN AWAY FROM THE BALL 

In both cleek and mid-iron shots, the club as it is brought back should turn away from 

the ball as shown iA the picture. 



GOLFER'S FAVORITE CLUB 

make proper allowance from the tee, you 
are compelled to pull the second shot to 
get to the green. To secure a pulled ball 
with a mid-iron, stand with the ball op- 
posite the center of the body with the left 
foot about four inches in advance of the 
right. Swing the club back close to the 
body and, instead of finishing straight on 
the line of play, let your arms follow 
through out from the body, toward the 
right of the line of play. If these direc- 
tions are closely followed the ball will 
gradually work to the left in its flight. 

If you want a quicker pull, turn the toe 
of your club in and make the swing as 
above. This shot has often pulled me 
out of a bad place and enabled me to win 
or halve a hole that otherwise would have 
been lost. 

There is a very useful shot with the Chip Shots 

mid-iron known as the chip shot or run- ^^ ^^"' 
143 



GOLF BOOK 

up approach, when the ball is lying from 

five or ten yards from the green with 

rough grass intervening. When the ball 

is in the same situation with smooth grass 

between it and the green, I advise the use 

of the putter. To get over or through the 

rough grass irregular of texture and of 

different holding power, it is best to use 

the chip shot with the iron. Grasp the 

club rather firmly in the palm of the left 

hand and in the fingers of the right, the 

thumb of the right hand resting on the 

shaft. The ball should be played from 

about opposite the left heel, with the 

right foot well advanced, and the body 

facing well toward the hole. 

The body, shoulders and head remain 

motionless, the shot being made only with 

the wrists and arms. Don't hurry the 

stroke. Pick the ball up cleanly and 

without taking any turf. After you have 
144 



GOLFER'S FAVORITE CLUB 

judged the amount of strength necessary 
to send the ball to the cup, pick out some 
spot on the green where you wish the ball 
to strike and run the remainder of the Play to Hit 
way, and then play to hit that spot. This 
is a shot that has won many a hole for 
me and not a little applause. I can usu- 
ally count on getting very near to the 
hole, and having a chance to go down in 
one putt. As the ball usually takes a 
slight twist to the right in its run, it is 
well to aim just a shade to the left of the 
pin. The ball gets a nice little run from 
a mid-iron with a certain amount of back- 
spin that helps it to hold the line and find 
the bottom of the cup if it be given a 
chance. 

Also, the mid-iron is a very useful club 
for putting on a rain-soaked or rough 
green at times when the ordinary putter 

seems hopeless. The ball starts off with 
145 



GOLF BOOK 

a jump on such shots, then rolls true to 
the line with back-spin that assists in 
holding the cup when it gets up. 

It is desirable that the golfer practice 
each of these strokes with his mid-iron 
until he can depend upon it for satisfac- 
tory results under the various conditions. 
The When he has mastered it, he will have 

°°I, ^ added to his equipment a club with which 
solely he should be able to make a round 
of eighteen holes only a few strokes worse 
than his best score with a full set of clubs. 



146 




Fliulo Copyright hy American Press Association 

PLATE XXII— ADDRESS FOR JIGGER SHOT OF ABOUT 140 YARDS 
The ball is opposite the center of the body and the right foot is well in advance of 

the leh. 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XXIII— TOP OF SWING FOR JIGGER SHOT 

The club is not taken back as far as in a mid-iron shot. A three-quarters' swing 

is what is needed to produce the desired result. 



. CHAPTER XIII 

THE USEFULNESS OF THE JIGGER 

PARAPHRASING the scriptures 
without any intention of being in 
the least bit sacrilegious, What shall it 

profit a man if he make a two-hundred- What Shall 

J J J • 1 1 It Profit 

and-twenty-yard drive and a two-hun- ^ ^ 

dred-yard brassie shot near the green and 
then foozle his approach twice and get a 
six? There is no profit in such a propo- 
sition, but loss of the hole in all probabil- 
ity. Poor approaching, going short of 
the hole or overplaying it — what a vast 
number of matches have been lost because 
of these faults. 

Clever play with the jigger would have 
turned disappointment into rejoicing, de- 
feat into victory. 

147 



GOLF BOOK 

Spare the The usefulness of this club has received 
Shot Spoil ^^j ordinary consideration from the 

the Stroke "^ "^ 

great majority of golfers because it is a 
recent invention. Before the jigger was 
introduced I experienced great difficulty 
in playing shots of about i6o yards. The 
distance being too short for a mid-iron 
and too long for a mashie, I endeavored 
to negotiate the stroke by using a half- 
iron. The results were not satisfactory. 
Experimenting, I discovered that I was 
able to accomplish much better results in 
these betwixt and between shots with the 
jigger, so I discarded the spared iron 
shot and adopted the jigger for all short 
strokes. Spare the rod and spoil the child 
is no truer than spare the shot and spoil 
the stroke. As I have explained fully 
in another part of this book, I do not be- 
lieve in spared shots with any club. 

When I state that the weakest part of 
148 




Photo Copyright iy American Press Associatioa 

PLATE XXW— INCORRECT TOP OF SWING WITH JIGGER 
The club is carried too far back. It should be more vertical. Compare this 
picture with Plate XXIII. 



USEFULNESS OF THE JIGGER 

my game at that time — the time I 
commenced experimenting — became the 
strongest through my action in adopting 
the jigger, my fondness for the club will 
be understood. I honestly attribute a 
great deal of my success to the use of the 

jigger- 

I advise every golfer to use this club, ^^^^ ^^' 

prove One's 

because I firmly believe that it will im- Qame 
prove his game. My jigger is 37 inches 
long and weighs 16 ounces. Like my 
other iron clubs, it has a stiff shaft. I 
have always taken it for granted that the 
driving-iron was the heaviest iron club 
in the set, but in weighing my clubs re- 
cently I found, to my surprise, that the 
jigger was of the same weight as the driv- 
ing-iron. All iron clubs should be rather 
heavy In the head and have stiff shafts. 
In order to time the shot properly you 

must be able to feel the head of the club 
149 



GOLF BOOK 



Poor 
Timing, 
Poor 
Direction 



throughout the swing. The lighter the 
club, the more difficult it becomes to time 
the stroke, and poor timing means poor 
direction. 

Also, accuracy is enhanced by the use 
of heavy irons because less effort is re- 
quired to get distance. Furthermore, 
they help the player to take turf after 
the ball is struck, insuring a proper fol- 
low through. All first-class golfers agree 
that in playing iron shots the best results 
are obtained by taking turf, but differ 
when they try to explain why this is so. 
The reason is clear to my mind. If you 
attempt to pick the ball off the grass, the 
ball will be struck on the bottom instead 
of in the center of the face of the club. 
If the stroke is to receive all the power, 
it is necessary to strike the ball with the 
center of the club. This can only be ac- 
complished by bringing the club down in 
150 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 
PLATE XXV— FINISH OF A SHOT WITH THE JIGGER 
In order to get a proper follow through turf must be taken after the ball is struck. 



USEFULNESS OF THE JIGGER 

back of the ball and going through into 
the turf. 

In playing the jigger, the club is not Three- 
brought back as far as the mid-iron. A „ "f^ ^^^ 

° owing 

three-quarters' swing is what is needed to 

produce the desired result. If you study 
the pictures of the mid-iron and jigger, 
you will note the difference in the back 
swing. The jigger is more of a push shot. 
That is to say, on account of the three- 
quarters' swing the play or bending of the 
wrists at the top of the swing is, to a great 
extent, eliminated, and the result is more 
of a push with the arms stiffer than in a 
mid-iron shot. When properly played 
this is a beautiful shot to watch. The 
ball, although flying low, will have a 
great deal of back spin and when it strikes 
the putting green will stop quickly. 

Time and again spectators have told 
me that although they were certain my 
151 



GOLF BOOK 

jigger shot would run clear across the 
green, much to their surprise the ball 
would stop dead within reasonable put- 
ting distance of the hole. 
Be Sure Keep your head still and your eyes 

glued to the back center of the ball. The 
majority of approaches fall short, so be 
sure to be up, for the old golf motto is 
"Never up, never in!" When you have 
mastered the jigger shot you will gain 
confidence and play right up to the pin 
without fear. 

One of the worst faults among good 
and indififerent players alike, is trying to 
figure out the right club to use for the 
second shot while they are walking from 
the tee to where the ball lies. I have lost 
many holes because I yielded to this 
weakness. 

Although I know only too well that 

attempting to judge the distance while 
152 




Photo CopyriglU, by American Press Association' 
PLATE XXVI— ADDRESS FOR CHIP SHOT WITH MID-IRON OR JIGGER 
The right thumb is pressed against the shaft, the feet are close together, the right in 

advance of the left. 



USEFULNESS OF THE JIGGER 

on the way to the ball means disaster in 
most cases, nevertheless I find myself un- 
consciously trying to decide what club to 
use. 

Wait until you get to your ball, judge First Judg- 
the distance carefully, and once having ^^" 
decided on the proper club do not hesi- 
tate or change to some other club. He 
who hesitates loses confidence, and lack 
of confidence usually results in a poor 
shot. I am convinced that in nine cases 
out of ten one's first impression is correct. 
Having promptly decided that you will 
use a jigger or a mid-iron or some other 
club, make the shot with the same com- 
mendable promptness. Take the proper 
stance, address the ball once or possibly 
twice, and then hit it! Fussing over the 
ball, changing one's stance several times, 
addressing the ball again and again, and 

again, until everyone around the tee is 
153 



GOLF BOOK 

saying to himself, "For heaven's sake, 
man, hit it!" are faults that hurt one's 
game and popularity. By actual count I 
have seen a player address the ball twelve 
times before he hit it, and then, as the 
Irishman would say, "He didn't hit it at 
all, at all!" 

Alex. Smith, the wonderfully clever 
professional, of whom I have already 
A Second to spoken, walks up to the ball, devotes not 
the Address ^^^^ ^ second to the address and then 
makes the stroke. If a master of the 
game see no advantage in fussing over 
and fiddling around the ball, the novice 
and even the somewhat experienced 
player can well afford to stop the prac- 
tice. The jigger shot, like all the others, 
is not to be learned in a moment. If you 
are not getting along well with this club, 
devote a morning or part of an afternoon 

to practice in approaching. 
154 




Photo CopyrigM by American Press Association 

PLATE XXVII— TOP OF SWING FOR CHIP SHOT 
Pick the ball up cleanly without taking turf. The stroke should be made with the 

wrists and arms only. 



USEFULNESS OF THE JIGGER 

Generally speaking, good golf should Approach- 
consist of a drive, a second shot, an ap- ^"^ ^ 
proach and a putt, consequently ap- 
proaching well is a vital requisite. To 
go even farther, I consider approaching 
and putting the most important parts of 
the game. 

Indifferent work in one or the other, 
or in both of these specialties, has lost 
many a match for golfers whose long 
game is excellent. Beyond question, it 
is a great satisfaction to be a long driver. 
The player who can step to the tee and 
send a straight ball down the fair green 
200 or 250 yards, naturally feels a glow 
of pleasure in the achievement and wins 
the admiration of the gallery, but if he 
can neither approach nor putt he has lit- 
tle chance of success in match or medal 
play. 

In playing chip shots I prefer to use 



GOLF BOOK 

the jigger, and I have already gone into 
detail concerning this in my article on 
the mid-iron. Consequently it will not 
be necessary for me to describe the pro- 
cedure here. 



156 







Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XXIX— GRIP FOR THE MASHIE 

Showing the thumb pressed against the shaft. 



CHAPTER XIV 

MASTERING THE DIFFICULT MASHIE 

THE mashie is the most treacherous 
club in the bag, the most difficult 
to master, but once in subjection to the 
player's will and skill it is a club of great 
value. My observation leads me to be- 
lieve that the majority of players have 
more trouble in learning to play the 
mashie properly than any other club. 
Weakness in mashie play is manifest not 
only in mediocre players, but also in our 
best amateur golfers in this country, with 
few exceptions. 

In my opinion this weakness is caused Practice h 

VH ceded 

not only by lack of knowledge on the part 

of players as to the correct methods used 

in making mashie shots, but by lack of 

practice as well. If, instead of practicing 
157 



GOLF BOOK 

driving and putting, which seems to be 
customary, they would utilize their spare 
time in playing twenty or thirty balls up 
to the hole from different distances, they 
would greatly improve their approach- 
ing and thus round out what otherwise is 
TheMashiea creditable game. In my article on the 
J. jigger I have expressed the view that, 

with the possible exception of putting, 
approaching is the most important factor 
in golf, and I take the liberty of repeat- 
ing the gist of the statement here because 
as implements used in approaching, the 
mashie and the jigger divide the honors 
about equally. 

As mashie play is one of the most diffi- 
cult departments of golf, it is apparent 
that more painstaking practice is re- 
quired if one is to become proficient in 
the use of this club. When you have 

mastered the mashie you will have a de- 
158 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XXX— MASHIE GRIP, BACK VIEW 



THE DIFFICULT MASHIE 

cided advantage over your less skillful 
opponent. Time and again, in matches, I 
have seen holes that were lost apparently, 
either halved or won by a good approach 
shot. For example, a player has been 
bunkered by a poor shot from the tee and 
is compelled to sacrifice a stroke in get- 
ting out of trouble, but by laying his 
third shot dead to the hole gets a four. 
His opponent, having played his second 
shot to the green, is making mental cal- 
culations that by winning this hole he 
will be 2 up and 4 holes to play, a very 
comfortable lead. 

Suddenly the air castle is shattered by A Jolt to 
his rival's perfect approach, and his -^^^""^^ 
nerves are given a disquieting jolt. As a 
result he overplays the hole on his ap- 
proach putt, misses his attempt to secure 
a 4, and instead of being 2 up, as he an- 
ticipated, finds the match all square. 
159 



GOLF BOOK 

Losing a hole which you have mentally 

jotted down on the card as won, is the 

worst blow that can fall upon a nervous 

player, except the loss of the match itself. 

Never count a hole as won until the balls 

are in the cup. 

Good approaching is bound to get on 

the nerves of your opponent and affect 

"Rub o' the his play. While he will be little con- 

p cerned about your long driving, he will 

become nervous when he sees your ball 

lying five or six feet from the hole after 

your approach. Many a time under such 

circumstances he will take his eye ofif the 

ball or through some other fault miss his 

shot. I have met players who claimed 

that they never missed shots because of 

nervousness, but I have always put these 

claims in the same class as a "rub o' the 

green," which, you will recall, doesn't 

count for anything. 

1 60 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XXXI— STANCE FOR THE MASHIE 
The right foot is well in advance of the left and the ball is about opposite the left heel. 



THE DIFFICULT MASHIE 

I have played my share of nerve-rack- 
ing matches against the cleverest ama- 
teurs on both sides of the Atlantic, and 
as a member of the gallery I have seen 
scores of similar clashes on the links be- 
tween experts. As a result of this obser- 
vation I can state without qualification 
that every man who plays golf has lost 
matches and missed shots on account of 
nervousness at some stage of his golfing 
career. 

My mashie weighs 14 ounces, and is The Best 
363^ inches long. It has a narrow blade, ^^^"*^ 
or face, with a fair amount of loft, and 
the blade is fitted to a stifif shaft. As 
there are many different patterns of 
mashies, the player will have to discover 
by experiment which pattern suits his 
play best. Experience has convinced me 
that better results can be obtained by us- 
ing a mashie with a narrow face. The 
161 



Mashie 



GOLF BOOK 

clumsy, heavy, broad-bladed mashies are 
not of the proper construction for playing 
a delicate shot. It must be remembered 
that the mashie was not made for long 
shots and should only be used for dis- 
tances of eighty yards, or less. 
The Grip I grip the club in the palm of my left 
n^^.hL hand and in the fingers of my right, with 
the right thumb down the shaft. Placing 
the right thumb in this position will im- 
prove your direction. 

Stand close to the ball with the right 
foot well in advance of the left. 

The ball should be about on a line with 
your left heel. 

Keep a firm grip on the club through- 
out the swing. 

In the back swing the club is taken 

straight up from the ball with the wrists 

and forearms as shown in one of the 

plates. 

162 




PTioto CopyHgttt by American Press Association 
PLATE XXXII— ADDRESS FOR THE MASHIE SHOT, SIDE VIEW 
Hold the club firmly with both hands with the right thumb down the shaft. 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 
PLATE XXXIII— TOP OF SWING WITH THE MASHIE 
The club is taken up straight from the ball with the wrists and forearms. The 
right leg should remain rigid throughout the swing, the left leg bend slightly. 



THE DIFFICULT MASHIE 

Keep the right elbow close to the body 
throughout the swing. 

The shot should be played with the The Body 
wrists and arms. The body should be 
kept rigid except for a slight turning of 
the shoulders in the back swing. 

The right leg should remain rigid 
throughout the swing, and the left leg 
should bend slightly in the back swing. 

Keep the heels on the ground through- 
out the swing and hold the head abso- 
lutely still. 

Keep the eye a shade under, instead of 
on, the back center of the ball. The dis- 
tance is regulated by the length of the 
back swing. 

A common fault among golfers in play- 
ing mashie shots is swinging the club 
back too far. This results in poor timing 
and a poor follow through, because, on 

account of the length of the back swing, 
163 



GOLF BOOK 

the player will check the club when it 
comes in contact with the ball. 
The Follow The follow through is very important, 
and in order to get it the player must take 
turf after hitting the ball. Many players 
make the mistake of trying to assist the 
ball to rise, instead of letting the lofted 
face of the mashie accomplish the desired 
result. The important things to remem- 
ber when playing the mashie are to keep 
the body and head still, and to follow 
through well and take turf. 



164 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XXXIV— FINISH OF SWING WITH THE MASHIE 

Showing how the wrists are turned up as the ball is struck and turf taken. 



CHAPTER XV 

WHEN AND HOW TO PLAY THE 
MASHIE NIBLICK 

THE average player never thinks of 
using a mashie niblick unless his 
ball is in a bunker. This club was con- 
structed not only for getting out of 
trouble but also for shots through the 
green. Very often you are called upon to 
pitch a short approach shot that will stop 
dead when it strikes the ground on ac- 
count of a sand trap at the edge of the 
green directly between your ball and the 
hole. 

The mashie niblick, having a great Getting 
deal of weight in the heel and a broad, ^^'^^ ^^^" 
well-laid back face, is best suited for 
shots of this character. When the shot is 

played properly it is surprising how 
1 6s 



GOLF BOOK 

quickly the ball will stop after striking 
the green. In playing short pitch shots 
from long grass the mashie niblick can 
also be used to great advantage. Caus- 
When the ing a ball to drop dead is a very difficult 

Ball Drops ^^ m ^ t • 

jT)^^^ shot to play, but not diincult to explain. 

Have you ever noticed the peculiar action 

of a billiard ball that has been struck on 

its back center by a hand brought straight 

down toward the table? It will run 

along the table a short distance, then the 

back spin imparted by the downward 

blow of the hand will exert itself and 

the ball will stop and then come back to 

the hand. 

To produce the same efifect in golf so 

that the ball will drop dead because of 

back spin, the face of the club must strike 

the ball in the same manner that the hand 

strikes the billiard ball. One day I was 

playing a four ball match with Frederick 
i66 




Photo Copyright liy American Press Association 

PLATE XXXV— FINISH OF MASHIE SHOT, FRONT VIEW 



THE MASHIE NIBLICK 

Herreshofif and two others at Garden 
City. After driving from the third tee, 
I was compelled to pitch my second shot 
over a sand trap directly between me and 
the hole. It was a hard shot, because the 
flag had been placed near the sand trap 
and because of a following wind and a 
keen green. 

The ball, after striking the green, only The Cut in 
ran about three feet and stopped two feet 
short of the hole. I holed out and then 
discovered that the ball had a deep cut 
in its side, making it unfit for further 
play. This cut was caused by the face of 
the club when it was brought down 
straight against the back center of the 
ball. 

In addressing the ball the right foot 

should be well in advance of the left, with 

the ball about opposite the left heel. The 

club should be taken straight back from 
167 



GOLF BOOK 

the ball with the wrists. The face of the 
club should not be turned away from the 
ball as in the other iron shots, and the 
swing should be out from rather than 
With around the body. Make the stroke with 

J V your wrists and arms. The body should 

and Arms "^ -' 

not enter into the shot. In fact, it is most 
important that the body and head remain 
still. Another important thing to re- 
member in playing this shot is to keep 
your eye on the ball. If you look up a 
fraction of a second too soon you will 
either half-top the ball or it will shoot ofif 
at right angles. The elbows should be 
kept in toward the body. Remember to 
hit the ball first and then take turf. After 
the club strikes the ball be sure to turn 
the wrists up. 

When the head moves the eye is taken 
off the ball, and this is the cause of most 

of the shots that are missed in the short 
i68 




Photo CopyrigM tiy American Press Association 
PLATE XXXVI— TOP OF SWING WITH THE NIBLICK 
The club is taken up straight from the ball with the wrists. Keep the eye fixed upon 
a spot an inch back of the ball. 




I'hoto Copyriyht by American Press Associalion 

PLATE XXXVII— BACK VIEW OF TOP OF SWING WITH THE NIBLICK 



THE MASHIE NIBLICK 

game. The first warning the beginner 
receives is, "Keep your eye on the ball!" 
but keeping your tnind on the ball ex- 
presses it better. When I am playing in 
matches I remember the importance of 
this warning, and through my mind, 
again and again, goes the phrase: 

"Keep your eye on the ball!" 

Naturally, the beginner will find great Four Years 

difficulty in learning how to play this shot °' ^^f^t^^e 

well, but he can do so if he be willing to 

work. I practiced this particular shot 

for two or three hours at a stretch about 

three times a week, for four years. This 

will give the reader some idea of the 

amount of practice necessary to become 

expert in playing the different golf shots. 

I know a number of very good golfers 

who have never been able to learn how 

to play this back spin approach. I recall 
169 



GOLF BOOK 

a match at Garden City in which I was 
one down and one to play. The last hole 
is about 1 60 yards, and the tee shot must 
be played across a pond. The green is 
guarded by a large bunker back of the 
hole and there are traps to the right and 
left. There happened to be a strong fol- 
lowing wind which made it difficult to 
hold the green. I pitched a cut shot with 
A Cut Shot the mashie and the ball ran only a few 
^^ '. ^ feet after striking the green, but my op- 
ponent, although his ball struck just over 
the pond some twenty feet short of the 
green proper, ran clear past the hole into 
the bunker at the rear. He lost the hole 
and the match because he was unable to 
play the shot with proper back spin. 

True, the match was all square at this 
point, but the same shot gave me the vic- 
tory on the nineteenth hole. In playing 

this hole I hooked my drive and my ball 
170 




Ph<jto Copyright by Amirican Press Association 

PLATE XXXVIII— FINISH OF MASHIE NIBLICK SHOT OUT OF BUNKER 

This remarkable picture shows the ball in flight. The wrists are turned up after the 

ball is struck. 



THE MASHIE NIBLICK 

landed in some weeds twenty yards from 
an ice-house, near the green, so that the 
house was directly in line between me and 
the hole. To reach the hole it was neces- 
sary to play the ball over the building. 

In this emergency I chose a mashie nib- Over the 
lick, struck almost straight down behind 
the ball, turned the wrists upward 
quickly as the club went under it, and 
it rose sharply, cleared the ice-house and 
dropped dead to the hole. Owing to the 
back spin imparted to the shot the ball 
rolled but a few feet after it struck the 
green. These incidents are related with 
but one idea in mind, and that is to im- 
press upon the reader the remarkable 
value of the mashie niblick when it is 
played properly. 

Although the wrists are allowed great 

freedom, the shot should be made very 

decisively. In playing short pitch shots 
171 



Long Grass 



GOLF BOOK 

from the long grass, the golfer will find 
it necessary to judge by the eye whether 
From the it is better to use the mashie or mashie 
niblick. No set rule can be laid down, 
but when the ball is fairly deep in the 
grass and the grass is heavy, it is advis- 
able to use the mashie niblick. 

Take the club up straight and keep the 
eye on some spot directly behind the ball. 
When playing short approach shots near 
the green, pick out some spot in line with 
the hole and plan to pitch the ball to that 
spot, relying upon the roll to carry the 
ball to or near the cup. 

It often happens that the ball will be 
found lying in long grass a foot or two 
high. In playing this shot, remember to 
take the club up straight from the ball 
and to quickly turn the wrists upward 
after the ball is struck. If you attempt to 

take the club back from the ball along 

172 




Photo Copyright hy American Press Association 
PLATE XXXTX— FINISH OF ANOTHER MASHIE NIBLICK SHOT, 
BALL 11^ THE AIR 



THE MASHIE NIBLICK 

the ground, the long grass will wind 
around the shaft and rob the stroke of its 
power. It will also turn the toe of your A Very 
club in towards the ball, causing a pull, '^^" ^ 
and though you may get the shot away, 
the ball will remain in the long grass. 
This shot from the long grass is one of 
the most difficult, "in the bag," as the ex- 
pression goes, but it may be mastered if 
the player will devote considerable time 
to the problem. 



173 



CHAPTER XVI 

PUTTING A TEST OF NERVE 



A 



LTHOUGH putting appears to be 
the simplest thing in golf to the 
beginner, after a little experience he will 
find out that it is not only the most im- 
portant but also the most difficult part of 
the game. As the address, or aim, must 
be absolutely correct as well as the esti- 
mate of the distance and the amount of 
power needed for the stroke, the putt de- 
mands a greater degree of skill than any 
other shot. 
Confidence Furthermore, in order to be a good, 
ecessary consistent putter the player must have 
confidence. Good putting is half con- 
fidence. The only way to secure confi- 
dence is by practice. There is no reason 
174 




Photo Copyriglit by American Press Association 

PLATE XL— PUTTING GRIP, FRONT VIEW 

Showing the Httle finger of the right hanc! interlocked with the index finger of the left 
and the thumbs down the shaft. 



PUTTING A TEST OF NERVE 

why every golfer should not be a good 
putter, provided he gives the correct 
amouht of study and practice to this de- 
partment of the game. Although over Very Few 
half a million people are playing golf p°° 
in America to-day, there are compara- 
tively few really good putters. The rea- 
son for this is lack of confidence. 

It is on the putting greens that most of 
the matches are lost and won. It is on 
the putting green that you have your last 
chance of winning the match, or of mak- 
ing up for the shot you missed through 
the green, and many a hard-fought con- 
test has been decided by a single clever 
putt. The greatest test of a golfer's nerve 
in a close match is on the putting green, 
and there are situations in which the 
strain calls for every bit of steadiness and 
self-control the golfer possesses. For in- 
stance, after a long and gruelling match 
175 



GOLF BOOK 

in which it has been nip and tuck all the 
way, the last green is reached and the 
player's opponent has holed out for a 4. 
The player has reached the green in 3 
and is now confronted with a four, or 
five-foot putt upon which the fate of the 
match depends. He cannot win — but he 
can lose! To halve the match and save 
himself from defeat he must hole that 
putt. He grits his teeth, grips his club 

firmly, addresses the ball and then ? 

Well, if he have a proper amount of con- 
fidence in his ability to make the putt he 
will probably hole out and halve the 
match. 
How to Learn how to putt well, so that you 

will possess confidence. Devote as much 
of your spare time as possible to this part 
of the game. A golfer has the nightmare 
when he dreams he is taking three putts 

on every green. Don't have golfer's 
176 



Putt Well 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XLI— PUTTING GRIP, SHOWING INTERLOCKED FINGERS 

Hands raised to show how the little fiifger of the right hand and the index finger of 

the left hand are locked together. 



PUTTING A TEST OF NERVE 

nightmare ! Practice putting for an hour 
at a time. As there are many different 
kinds oi putters, the beginner will have 
to find out from experience which putter 
suits his game best. Try out the various 
makes, select the one you have the most 
confidence in and by all means stick to 
that club. Stand with your feet close to- 
gether, the right foot being well in ad- 
vance of the left. The ball should be 
about opposite the left heel. In selecting 
a putter get a club with an upright lie 
because in order to get a good line on the 
hole it is necessary to stand well over the Stand Well 

ij„ii Over the 

Ball 

After you have taken your stance and 

placed your putter at right angles to the 

hole, back of the ball, allow your eye to 

pass over an imaginary line from the ball 

to the hole. When you have judged the 

distance, or the amount of strength re- 
177 



GOLF BOOK 

quired to send the ball the distance be- 
tween you and the hole, allow your eye 
to pass back along this imaginary line 
from the hole to the ball. Take plenty of 
time to make up your mind about the 
shot, but once having arrived at a definite 
decision, do not wait any longer but putt 
the ball. The longer you wait and fuss 
over the putt, the less chance you have of 
holing the ball. If there is any noise or 
movement near by, wait until it ceases, 
because the slightest distraction at the 
instant you hit the ball is apt to cause 
disaster. 
A Putting This reminds me of a laughable inci- 
btory ^gj^^ ^j^^^ occurred at Apawamis several 

years ago. "Old Sport" Lowery was out 
on the links with a somewhat inexperi- 
enced Italian caddie. When they reached 
a certain green the Italian took the red 

marking flag from the hole, and Lowery 
178 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 

PLATE XLII— STANCE FOR PUTTING 

Stand close to the ball and well over it. Interlock the index finger of the left hand 
with the little finger of the right, with both thumbs down the shaft. 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 
PLATE XLIII— FINISH OF PUTT, BALL ENTERING THE HOLE 



PUTTING A TEST OF NERVE 

bent over to putt. As he did so the caddie 
carelessly began to wave the red flag back 
and forth. Lowery caught the movement 
out of the corner of his eye and paused. 
The red flag at once became motionless. 
Again Lowery bent over to putt and 
again the red flag waved. Once more 
Lowery paused and the red flag ceased 
waving. Finally, after this performance 
had been repeated three or four times, 
Lowery straightened up and growled to 
the Italian: 

"When in h is this blast going ofif, 

anyway?" 

There is a difference of opinion as to 
the best manner of gripping the putter, My Grip 
and I shall not discuss each particular f°^ '*^ 
grip, but shall explain the grip I use my- 
self. Years of experience and practice 
have convinced me that this grip suits my 

game best. I grip the club with the fin- 
179 



GOLF BOOK 

gers of both hands, and both thumbs are 
down the shaft. Also, I interlock the lit- 
tle finger of my right hand with the index 
finger of my left hand. This interlocking 
helps the hands to work in unison, which 
is very important. As putting is a deli- 
cate stroke, you must grip the club firmly 
with the fingers and not the hands. 
Gripping with the fingers enables you to 
feel the club and improves your direc- 
tion and accuracy. 
Hands ^^ ^^ ^ well-known fact that the ball 

Wrists and will keep a better line if the club be held 

Arms 

firmly, and will be less likely to be de- 
flected by irregularities in the putting 
green. The hands, wrists and arms are 
the only parts of the body that enter into 
the putting stroke. In long, or approach 
putts, the shoulders enter the stroke 
slightly. The body should be kept abso- 
lutely immovable. In short, two of the 
i8o 




Photo Copyright by American Press Association 
PLATE XLIV— ADDRESS FOR LOFTING A STYMIE WITH THE MASHIE 
The club should be gripped by the fingers of both hands with the right thumb pressed 

against the shaft. 



PUTTING A TEST OF NERVE 

most important things to remember are 
to keep the head and body still. 

In addressing the ball do not allow the 

club to rest with its full weight on the Addressing 

ground back of the ball, but let it touch ^^^ ^""^^ 
the ground lightly. The club should be 
taken back straight from the ball along 
the ground with the wrists and arms. 
Keep your left eye on the back center of 
the ball and do not lift your head until 
you see the club strike that place. If you 
take your eye ofif the ball a fraction of a 
second too soon you will unconsciously 
check the stroke and the ball will go to 
the right of the hole. 

Remember that the wrists and arms 
should work in unison. The true put- 
ting stroke is best described as a pendu- 
lum movement in which neither the 
wrists nor arms predominate. Do not 

tap the ball, but take the club back in 
i8i 



GOLF BOOK 

the manner I have already outlined and 
follow through. I know a number of 
very good putters who merely tap the 
ball, but if you wish to be consistent you 
will have to adopt the pendulum swing 
and follow through. Some players ad- 
vise the use of two putters, one for ap- 
proach putts and one for short putts. 
This, I think, is a great mistake. Putting 
is difficult enough without changing your 
clubs, becoming confused and worrying 
over and wasting time in getting the ball 
into the hole. 
"A Drive The difficulties of putting always re- 
andaPutt" mind me of the old story about the some- 
what pompous and egotistical player 
who, upon reaching a certain tee, said to 
the caddie: 

"Boy, how long is this hole?" 
"Four hundred yards, sir." 

"Ah, a drive and a putt!" 

182 




Photo CopyrigM by American Press Association 
PLATE XLV— LOFTING A STYMIE 
The ball is shown in the air on its way towards the hole. Note the ball's shadow on 

the green. 




Photo Copj/Tight tv American Press Association 

PLATE XLVI— LOFTING A STYMIE 
The ball in the foreground has been lofted over the other ball and is entering the 

hole. 



PUTTING A TEST OF NERVE 

With this contemptuous remark, the 
player teed up, gave a mighty swing and 
topped the ball, which rolled about four 
feet off the tee. 

Promptly offering the proper club, the 
caddie said, nonchalantly, "Now for a 
h of a putt!" 

If you should lose all confidence in 

your putting, a change of stance or put- My Most 

ters will sometimes be of great assistance. ^, , 

I first used a putting cleek, but, as I have 

stated in a previous chapter, I now use 

the Schenectady putter, the shaft of 

which rises from near the center of the 

head. This club is barred in Great 

Britain, but may be used in the United 

States. The putter I use has been my 

property for eight years and is my most 

prized club. When I am playing for a 

championship I feel like taking it to bed 

with me at night for fear it may be lost 
183 



GOLF BOOK 

or stolen. I have used it in every match 
since the day I first had its aid in defeat- 
ing Travis at Nassau, in 1904. I believe 
the center-shafted putter is built on the 
right principle and that it v^ill improve 
one's game because it has a tendency to 
make one follow through. 
Lofting a In match play you will occasionally 
tymie ^^^ y^^^. opponent's ball directly in line 
between your ball and the hole, that is, 
he has laid you a stymie. If it be impos- 
sible for you to curve your ball around 
your opponent's by aiming a shade to the 
left, standing with the ball well in front, 
the club turned to the right, and drawing 
the club in and across the ball at the mo- 
ment of impact, causing it to slice, you 
will be compelled to loft your ball over 
the other ball with a mashie. In this shot 
it is very necessary that you keep your eye 

on the ball. Play off the left foot with 

184 



PUTTING A TEST OF NERVE 

the right foot well advanced. The shot 
should be made with the wrists alone. 
This is a risky shot, and if you have two 
for a half, it is better to take the half than 
the risk. 



185 



CHAPTER XVII 

BUNKER SHOTS AND HOW TO PLAY 
THEM 



I 



N years gone by one of the humorous 
as well as tragic incidents of life 
was described by the phrase, "Buncoed, 
b'gosh!" Since golf achieved its wonder- 
ful popularity on this side of the Atlan- 
tic, the revised phrase is "Bunkered, 
b'gosh!" Golf has its exasperations as 
well as its joys, and chief among the 
former is the long drive, or the long, 
brassie shot, that slices or pulls a bit, 
landing the ball in a sand pit at the base 
of a high bunker. 
Woes of The woes of the unfortunate bunkered 

the have been described in song and story, 

Bunkered 

cartoon and jest, on both sides of the At- 
i86 



BUNKER SHOTS 

lantic. A city near New York not only 
has a golf club but it narrowly escaped 
being benefited by the extension of the 
New York City subway, which led a local 
poet to write thus about one of the golf 
club's novices : 

When Giffen in the bunker gets, 
He wastes no time on vain regrets, 
He digs that bunker to the core. 
And brings the subway to our door. 

When a player is bunkered, it is very Medd- 
funny — for the other fellow. Getting „ ^^ 
into the bunker is the easiest thing in the Spoiled 
world; getting out is another story. Many 
a promising medal-play score has been 
ruined by one bad play that landed the 
ball in a bunker, and by half a dozen 
strokes wasted in an eventually successful 
effort to get out on the fair green. 

Beyond doubt most players devote 

more attention to the problem of keeping 
187 



GOLF BOOK 

out of bunkers than they do to learning 
how to get out when fickle fortune gets 
them in. It is really surprising how lit- 
tle thought is given to this important 
phase of golf. Think of the countless 
number of strokes thrown away by golf- 
ers in trying to get out of bunkers, and 
yet how seldom one sees anyone practic- 
ing these shots and endeavoring to im- 
prove this department of the game so 
that in the future the player will be rea- 
sonably certain of getting out of trouble 
with the loss of only one stroke. 
Scylla and It is a common experience to see play- 

Charybdis , -t ^ • 

ers busily engaged m practice putting, 
approaching or driving, but rarely do 
you see them in a bunker playing ball 
after ball in an effort to learn just how to 
escape from the Scylla and Charybdis of 
golf with a single, well-directed stroke. 

I found it necessary to practice these 

i88 



BUNKER SHOTS 

bunker shots by playing ten or twenty 
balls for hours at a time out of different 
lies, and the players who read this book 
will be compelled to go through the same 
performance if they wish to acquire the 
secret. Frankly confessing that it is no 
easy matter to describe the correct modus 
operandi, I shall content myself with do- 
ing my best. The niblick is the most 
valuable club for bunker shots. Often 
it happens that the ball will be lying well 
in a bunker, allowing the use of a mashie, 
but the niblick is the proper club to use 
in most cases. 

Select a niblick that is well laid back, Disregard 
weighing not less than one pound. The 
shaft should be stiff and not of whippy 
character. The most important thing to 
keep in mind, is to be sure and get the 
ball out of the bunker in one stroke. That 

is to say, disregard distance; take no 
189 



GOLF BOOK 

chances; get the ball out. Don't make 
the mistake of trying to get distance by 
using a mid-iron or jigger instead of a 
niblick. In most bunker shots the ball 
must rise quickly, and it is easier to get 
the ball up with the niblick on account of 
its lofted face. Trying for additional 
distance by using a club with a straight 
face is an all too common fault among 
players. 
Not Worth When the ball is lying well it is a great 
the Risk temptation to use a mid-iron, or even a 
cleek, but a moment's thought will show 
that the possible (not probable) advan- 
tage to be gained is not worth the risk. 
In match play a man is often justified in 
taking a chance, because failure can only 
mean the loss of the hole, but in medal 
play, when you are competing against 
the whole field, it is better to disregard 

everything except the single idea of get- 
190 



BUNKER SHOTS 

ting the ball out with the loss of one 
stroke. 

The shot should be made as if you in- 
tended driving the head of the club 
straight down into the sand without fol- 
lowing through toward the hole. The 
club should be taken up straight from the 
ball with the wrists, and brought down 
straight about one inch in back of it. 

Keep the eye on the sand an inch behind ^i^ Behind 

1 1 It 1 • /■ 1 • T . '^^ Ball 

the ball and aim for this spot. It is not 

necessary for the face of the club to come 

in contact with the ball itself; make no 

attempt to follow through, but let the 

club stop because of its own exhausted 

momentum after it has gone well down 

into the sand beneath the ball. 

Keeping the head still and the eye fixed 

on a spot directly back of the ball are 

two of the principal things to remember. 

As most bunkers have a high face the 
191 



GOLF BOOK 

ball must rise quickly, but this desired 
result will not happen if the club strike 
the sand too close to the ball. On the 
other hand, if too much sand be taken the 
stroke will be robbed of all of its power, 
and in either case the stroke will be a fail- 
ure. Gauging the shot to a nicety is by 
no means an easily acquired accomplish- 
ment, and this is the reason why playing 
out of bunkers is so difficult. Also, it is 
hard to judge the strength or thickness of 
the sand — a very important matter — be- 
cause you are not allowed to touch the 
A Pair of sand with your club. However, you can 
rp^ ' , plant your feet firmly in the sand when 
Feet addressing the ball, and after a little ex- 

perience you will be able to estimate the 
strength of the sand by means of a pair 
of well-trained feet. 

Often it happens that the ball will be 

lying well in a sand trap just off the edge 
192 



BUNKER SHOTS 

of the putting green and you can play it ^ Delicate 

, , , , . , . , Wrist Shot 

dead to the hole by a wrist shot without 

taking any, or but very little, sand, rely- 
ing on the lofted face of the niblick to 
give the ball the necessary rise without 
digging into the sand back of the ball. 
It is a very delicate and treacherous shot 
because the wrists must be turned up 
quickly just as the ball is struck. Often, 
this shot will save the hole, but, as I said 
at the beginning, the important thing to 
remember is to be sure to get the ball out 
in one stroke. 



193 



CHAPTER XVIII 
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF GOLF 



G 



OLF is a game of the head as well 
as a game of the hands. The 
golfer who does not use his head will 
never achieve any great proficiency in 
the sport. A really clever player takes 
note of everything about him that may 
Takes have an influence on the result of his 

Note of strokes and does his best to use it for 

Everything 

his benefit. When the wind is dead 
against him on the tee, and the bunker 
ahead is likely to trap his shot because of 
the adverse wind, he plays short if there 
seem small chance of carrying the bunker 
because but little distance will be sacri- 
ficed, and because a trapped shot is cer- 
tain to cost him one stroke and possibly 
194 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF GOLF 

two 01" three. In match play this mis- 
fortune would cost him the hole and in 
medal play it might cause him to lose 
the day's competition. As every golfer 
knows, the low score in a medal play 
event is often but one stroke better than 
the score of the second man. 
The old adage, "Look before you 

Before 

leap," when applied to the royal and an- You Play 
cient game of golf, should read, "Think 
before you play." There is no virtue, no 
success in walking up to the ball and hit- 
ting it blindly. Study the lay of the land 
ahead, remember the condition of the 
ground, plan to avoid the traps along one 
side of the course, or the other, make al- 
lowance for the wind, canvass all these 
things quickly and then make your shot. 
I have seen noted experts devote over a 
minute to the study of a putt before the 

putt was made. When they were badly 
195 



GOLF BOOK 

bunkered, I have seen them play back so 
that the second shot would safely clear 
the obstruction and give them good dis- 
tance. I have seen them slice or hook a 
ball deliberately so that it would pass 
round a tree in the line of play and roll 
to the putting green. I have seen so 
much back spin applied to a mashie shot 
that when the ball struck the putting 
green it actually rolled toward the man 
who played it. 
Thought A player must be fairly expert to do 

b^^Sk'ii some of these things, and in such in- 
stances mere thought will be of little 
value unless it be backed by skill, but 
from the first drive to the last putt the 
player should make good use of his rea- 
soning powers. Suppose, for example, 
that the drive is along the edge of the 
links and the wind is apt to carry a 

straight or hooked ball out of bounds to 
196 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF GOLF 

the left. How easy it is for the player 
to take this fact into consideration and 
drive a little further to the right than 
usual, or slice the ball a trifle to counter- 
act the force of the wind. Suppose that 
the player knows he cannot reach the 
green in one shot and has a bad brassie 
lie. The thoughtless player will play 
the brassie and, doubtless, get a poor 
shot and poor distance. The player who Will Play 
thinks will play the safer mid-iron, get ^,5.,, 
good distance and reach the green on his 
next shot, lying 3 as against the brassie 
player's 4. Often, in medal play, have I 
seen golfers refuse to take advantage of 
the rule which permits them to lift and 
tee up the ball with a loss of two strokes 
only to lose stroke after stroke in unsuc- 
cessful attempts to get out of trouble and 
finally, in disgust, pick up the ball, there- 
by disqualifying themselves. A mo- 
197 



GOLF BOOK 

merit's thought would have convinced 
them that the safe and wise thing to do 
was to lose two strokes rather than risk 
such a disaster. 
Changing Often during a thirty-six hole match, 

Conditions 

the condition of the ground undergoes a 
remarkable change and the player should 
note this and make allowance for it. For 
example, owing to a heavy rain over- 
night the links are soft and slow and the 
ball gets only a fair amount of roll in the 
morning. The sun is hot and by 1 130 
P. M., when the afternoon round is to 
start, the ground has become well dried 
out and the ball gets a -long roll, conse- 
quently much less power is needed to du- 
plicate the approach shots of the morn- 
ing. The player must remember this 
from the moment he makes his first tee 
shot in the afternoon round, or a few 

strokes or a few holes will be lost before 
198 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF GOLF 

he wakes up and adjusts his play to the 
new condition of the links. 

Beyond a doubt, there is greater op- Match 
portunity for head work in match play rJ^"^, 
than in medal play. In the latter the 
golfer is playing against the entire field, 
and he is doing his best to turn in the 
lowest possible score — so many strokes 
for the entire eighteen holes. There is 
no direct competition. He and his com- 
panion are not playing against each other 
except in a general sense, and each man's 
interest in the other largely consists in 
his duty to see that the other plays the 
game according to the rules governing 
medal play contests, counting every 
stroke, holing out each putt, etc., etc. If 
he fail to do this he is a traitor to every 
other player in the competition and is 
himself disqualified, as a matter of 

honor, no matter whether or not the com- 
199 



GOLF BOOK 

mittee learns of his failure. In match 
play the contest is man against man. 
// Is Man The two players go out together, and 
j^^^ each hole is a separate battle in itself. 

Smith wins the first hole and is i up. 
Jones makes a desperate rally and cap- 
tures the second hole, and the match is 
all square. They tie the third hole. All 
square. Smith wins the fourth and fifth 
holes and is 2 up, and thus, hole after 
hole, the golf battle rages. Such matches 
often go 18 holes, 36 holes, yes, even 50 
holes before one contestant or the other 
wins. 

In a hand-to-hand struggle of this 
character the golfer who keeps perfectly 
cool, holds his temper no matter what 
happens, plays with thoughtful delibera- 
tion and carefully studies his opponent, 
will have a decided advantage over an 

adversary who gets nervous, loses his 
200 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF GOLF 

temper because of bad luck or a bad shot, 
plays hastily and devotes but little 
thought to his shots and to the tempera- 
ment of the man he is playing. While 
it is highly improper and against the eti- 
quette of golf to say or do any unsports- 
manlike thing that will annoy or irritate 
your opponent, there are legitimate acts 
that may prove useful in breaking down 
his nerve and making him "go up in the 
air," to use the expressive metaphor of 
the streets. Suppose, for example, that 
your opponent particularly prides him- 
self concerning the great distance he se- 
cures in driving, and that you know he 
confidently expects to outdrive you from 
start to finish during the match. If you Jolt His 
have specialized a bit in the psychology °"^ 
of golf you will guess shrewdly that if 
you equal or surpass his drives from the 
first, second and third tees his confidence 

20I 



GOLF BOOK 

will receive a severe jolt, worry will set 
in and he will at once commence press- 
ing every tee shot beyond the limits of 
prudence. In the game of golf confi- 
dence is a great helper. Let a player lose 
it and he is marked for slaughter. 

On the other hand, an attack of over- 
confidence is apt to be fully as disastrous. 
Overconfidence and carelessness are team- 
mates. If you can do so, break down 
your opponent's nerve by outdriving him 
and by setting a heart-breaking pace from 
the first tee, but simply because you have 
him a few holes down do not hold him 
too cheap and ease up in your efforts. 
When the As every experienced golfer knows, the 

Ball Rolls J. j^jg j^^jj jg ^j.-^t ^^^ eccentric. It will 
for You 

"roll for you" hole after hole as if it 

were bewitched in your favor. You will 

drive out of bounds and the ball will 

hit a tree or a rock and come back into 
202 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF GOLF 

bounds again. Your approach shot will 

strike the green three feet ofif the line to 

the hole, yet the ball will deliberately 

turn to the' right or left, make straight 

for the cup as if pulled by an invisible 

string and drop in as if there were no 

other place for it to go. Then, after 

"rolling for you" for a time it will "roll 

against you" with the perversity of the 

evil one. You will top your drive, foozle 

your approach and miss your two-foot 

putt, and before you quite realize it your 

opponent will have squared the match 

and be leading you by a hole or two. 

Consequently, it behooves you to keep on 

playing golf with all the skill at your 

command until your man is actually 

beaten. Several years ago a well-known Seven Up 

player was 7 up and 7 to play, "dormie ^^* ^°^^ 

7," in golf phraseology. All he needed to 

win was to tie one hole and he evidently 
203 



GOLF BOOK 

thought the match was as good as ended. 
Then, thoughtlessly, he committed a 
grave breach of golf etiquette by calling 
out to a friend, "Who do I play in the 
next round?" Naturally, this incensed 
his "dormie 7" opponent who immedi- 
ately began playing with all the clever- 
ness and determination he could possibly 
summon and actually succeeded in win- 
ning eight holes in succession — and the 
match ! 
Lost Nerve, Moral I Never prematurely announce 
Lost Match |-}^e gQif funeral of your opponent! On 
another occasion I saw an overconfident 
player who rejoiced because his match 
was "dormie 6" in his favor, lose seven 
holes straight. He became careless, lost 
a few holes, then lost his nerve — and the 
match ! 

Another important thing the real golf 

psychologist remembers is to refrain 
204 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF GOLF 

from playing a hazardous shot when he 
is a stroke or two ahead of his opponent 
through the green and there is no neces- 
sity for doing so. For example, far ahead 
is a brook directly in front of the green. 
The distance is so great there is small 
chance that either he or his opponent 
can carry the brook and reach the green. 
Being one or two strokes ahead, he plays 
short of the brook so that he will be sure 
to reach the green in the next shot. On 
the other hand, his opponent, being in a 
fair way to lose the hole, hazards the long 
and difficult shot because an unusual 
carry or a lucky bound may send his ball 
to the green and possibly give him a tie. 
Owing to the situation, what is folly for Folly and 
one is wisdom for the other. ^^ °"^ 

The golfer who wishes to secure health 
and happiness from the sport should be a 
philosopher. He should strive to play 

20C 



GOLF BOOK 

his best, but if that be none too good, he 
should not permit the fact to worry, irri- 
tate or anger him. One day I saw a 
golfer who became so angry because he 
was playing poorly that he took his clubs, 
one after another, from his bag and broke 
them across his knee. Swearing that he 
would never play again, he hurried back 
to the club house. Two weeks later he 
was back on the links with a new bagful 
of clubs. 
Cultivate ^ "^^" who gets into a rage, swears and 
Self-Con- breaks his clubs, and petulantly drives 

trot 

the inoffensive ball off into the woods 
should either reform or give up the 
game. He is reaping no benefit mentally, 
morally or physically. Let him go beat 
carpets! No true lover of golf will 
mourn his loss! 



206 



CHAPTER XIX 

WHY THE BUSINESS MAN SHOULD 
PLAY GOLF 

ONE does not need to be in the 
championship division to enjoy 
golf. He can play the game the very first 
time he handles driver, mid-iron and put- 
ter and ofttimes, alas! play it much better 
than he can the third or even the tenth 
time. Furthermore, he can always find Always 
someone in his class, some worthy oppo- ^^^^^"^ 

in His 

nent, no matter whether he can play class 
eighteen holes in loo strokes or 80. Even 
when his partner is a better player there 
is always the handicap to equalize mat- 
ters and make the battle over the links a 
hard-fought one. 

American business men are hard work- 
ers. Many of them toil all day indoors 
207 



GOLF BOOK 

and get no exercise except their daily 
walk or occasional sprint for a train. 
They need fresh air, relaxation, some- 
thing that will give them exercise and 
take their minds off business for a few 
hours. "All work and no play makes 
Jack a dull boy," and they do not play 
enough. They get too thin or too fat, 
they worry about business until they can- 
not sleep nights, and life becomes one 
Golf and long hard grind. When they were boys 
and young men they played baseball, but 
as they grow older they find that base- 
ball is too strenuous for them; that a 
game or two a year between the Fat Men 
and the Slims or the Bunny Hugs and 
the Grizzly Bears is more apt to be a 
bone breaker, than a body builder. Not 
long ago a friend, aged 49, played one 
game of baseball that netted him $250. 

In sending him a check the accident in- 
208 



Strenuous 



BUSINESS MAN AND GOLF 

surance company's broker wrote: "For 
heaven's sake switch to golf!" 

Sliding to second base on the chin, one 
eyebrow and a brittle elbow at 49 doubt- 
less is now classed as "extra hazardous" 
by that company. 

Baseball, splendid game as it unques- Tennis Too 
tionably is, is too strenuous for the aver- 
age business man unless he is quite young. 
The same statement applies to football. 
Tennis is fine sport, too, but a two-hour 
match under a broiling sun is hard work 
for a man of 45 unless he is in the pink 
of condition. It takes more out of a man 
than it puts into him. My home golf 
club had a dozen good tennis players and 
four courts a few years ago. Every ten- 
nis player who is old enough to be a 
business man is now playing golf and the 
courts are used by the boys and girls. 

Said one of the tennis men: "Tennis is 
209 



GOLF BOOK 

a great game, but I am as fond of golrf;' ^ 
and golf benefits me more because it 
gives me the exercise I need without 
wearing me down." 
Once a Fad In America golf was taken up as a 
AT ., fad and has become a necessity. Society 

JSecessity ■' -^ 

made a fad of it because it was "so Eng- 
lish, you know," and for a time a golfer 
was not considered to be the real thing 
unless he wore a red coat with bright 
gilt buttons, knee breeches and thick golf 
stockings that turned over just so at the 
top and made even a lean calf look fairly 
plump. 

Years ago society lost interest in golf, 
a red coat on the links is now about as 
rare as a midwinter robin, knickerbock- 
ers have in great measure given way to 
trousers, but the grand old sport has 
steadily and rapidly grown in popularity 
each year and to-day its devotees are num- 

2IO 



BUSINESS MAN AND GOLF 

bered by hundreds of thousands and its 
links are valued at millions of dollars. 

Why? Because there was a logical ^ Reason 

r -u • X u For Golf 

reason for the perpetuation of the game. 

The business man took it up because 

every week it gave him the sort of brawn 

and stamina-building exercise he needed, 

not too violent, but just strenuous enough ; 

because it interested him and called him 

to the links regularly with a call that 

would not be denied; because it increased 

his strength, cleared the cobwebs from 

his brain, made him forget his worries 

and prolonged his life. To this the 

doubting Thomas makes reply as follows : 

"But why should a business man who 
needs exercise in the open air play golf? 
Why doesn't he go out and take a ten- 
mile walk instead? It would do him as 
much good." 

Possibly it would, but experience in- 

211 



GOLF BOOK 

dicates that while he may take the walk 
one day, or two days, or three days, he 
will not stick to it for the simple reason 
that it is a monotonous proceeding and 
does not interest him enough. Golf is a 
far different proposition. It gives him 
all the walking he needs, for twice around 
the links will carry him six or seven 
miles, and as he walks he battles con- 
He Battles stantly with a tantalizing little ball, 

xvith the .... , , . 

Little Ball ^trikmg it gently to produce one sort of 
shot, putting more power into the stroke 
to secure another result, hitting it with 
every ounce of strength in his body to 
get a good mid-iron shot, a long brassie 
approach or a far-reaching drive. Nearly 
every muscle in his body from his toes 
to his neck is brought into play. Ankles, 
calves, thighs, waist, back, arms, hands 
and shoulders all have their work cut out 
for them and there can be no shirking. 

212 



BUSINESS MAN AND GOLF 

How the heart beats and how the lungs 
expand with deep breathing as the golfer 
toils up a steep hill, reaches for his bras- 
sie and puts all his brawn and brain — for 
headwork a-plenty is needed — into a 
mighty shot destined to reach the putting 
green 200 yards distant or maddeningly 
roll along the turf and stop seven feet 
from where he stands! 

Golf interests him, tantalizes him. The Lure 
lures, rewards, disappoints, delights, ex- °f ^°'^ 
asperates him. There are so many things 
he can do wrong and he is so determined 
that he can and will do them right. 

His opponent, too, has boasted of his 
prowess as a golfer, and right there and 
then he is going to have it "put all over 
him" seven up and six to play or Molly 
Stark will be a golf widowbefore night! 

In every up-to-date golf club some in- 
teresting contest is scheduled for each 
213 



GOLF BOOK 

Saturday and holiday, and what joy the 

golfer feels as he proudly bears home 

His First his first cup, what a hero he is to his 
Golf Cup 

family and friends even when he modestly 

explains that he had thirty handicap and 
really should have had but twenty-five. 
It makes no difference to them. How 
could he possibly win a cup if he were 
not a crackerjack golfer? 

Walking is good exercise, but golf is 
walking plus so many other pleasing and 
alluring features that there is no fair com- 
parison between them. A millionaire 
who owns a six cylinder automobile will 
not walk three blocks to the railroad sta- 
tion without grumbling when the ma- 
chine is temporarily "off its game," but 
he will joyously tote a heavy golf bag 
seven miles in a thirty-six hole golf match 
for an eleven dollar silver mug and heave 

a sigh of regret because the sun has gone 

214 



BUSINESS MAN AND GOLF 

down and it's too dark to play a few 
extra holes. 
The yomiger a business man is the A Health 

• BuildeT 

more success he will have in learnmg to 
play a fair game of golf, a game that will 
give him a place among the first or sec- 
ond class players of his home club. There 
is a well known tradition that no man 
who takes up the game after he has 
passed thirty-five can ever achieve great- 
ness as a golfer, but at least one noted 
American amateur golfer has made him- 
self an exception to the rule. However, 
in golf as in other sports, the best time 
to learn is in youth, but if one cannot 
take up the game at nine and win the 
amateur championship at twenty as I did, 
he can still get plenty of pleasure and 
profit out of it even if he swing a club 
for the first time at the age of forty, fifty, 

or even sixty. I know a man who at fifty- 
215 



GOLF BOOK 

five was making a great fortune and 

losing his health. His family physician 

said, "Drink a little whisky every day." 

A noted specialist said, "Don't drink a 

drop of whisky, play golf." He took the 

specialist's advice. At first he could not 

play half way round the links, nine holes, 

without being done up physically, but 

his health began to improve, his strength 

and powers of endurance increased and 

Now He now he can play all day, covering thirty- 

an ay ^-^ holes, without being tired out. Fur- 
All Day ' ^ 

thermore, with barely two years of prac- 
tice he can more than hold his own against 
quite a number of men who are ten years 
younger in years and as many years older 
in golf. 

There is another excellent reason why 
the business man should play golf, espe- 
cially if he has political ambition. Both 

William Howard Taft and Woodrow 
216 



BUSINESS MAN AND GOLF 

Wilson trained for the presidency on 
the golf links and each won the Presi- 
dent's cup ! * 



217 



CHAPTER XX 

HOLES IN ONE AND OTHER REMARK- 
ABLE SHOTS 



O 



NE of the ambitions of every 
golfer is to make a hole in one 
shot. The feat, which is a combination 
of skill and luck, is not uncommon, yet 
it always causes a mild sensation when- 
ever it is performed. The ball, driven 
from the tee, lands near or on the edge 
of the green, rolls toward the hole as if 
drawn by a magnet and drops in. A. C. 
Ladd of the Henley-on-Thames Golf 
Holed Out Club is credited with having holed out in 
y ^^^ one shot on a 330-yard hole. One ex- 
planation of this phenomenal shot is that 
the ball was driven down hill and rolled 

a great distance after it struck the turf. 
218 



HOLES IN ONE 

It is extremely probable that Mr. Ladd 
could try to duplicate the shot on that 
particular hole for the remainder of his 
lifetime without succeeding. 

I have met hundreds of golfers who Three 
never saw a hole made in a single shot, , ^ 

° ' In One 

but I have had the good luck to place 

three of such holes to my credit. The 

first one was at the old Oyster Bay Golf 

Club. I drove across a pond a distance 

of 150 yards to the third green. The shot 

was only a mashie pitch for an adult 

player, but I was only fourteen years of 

age and used a mid-iron. Imagine my 

delight when, upon reaching the green, 

I found the ball in the hole! 

Four years later I was playing in a 

four ball match at the Deal Golf Club 

and used a driving iron on the sixth tee. 

The ball was at least three feet off the 

line of the flag, but when it struck the 
219 



GOLF BOOK 

green 175 yards distant, it kicked in to- 
ward the cup. We saw it roll on the 
putting green but did not suspect where 
it was until one of the caddies found it 
in the hole. 
loure a Shortly before I won the champion- 

Kohher!" 

ship at Wheaton in 19 12, Marshall Whit- 
latch and I were playing Oswald Kirkby, 
New Jersey State champion, and Robert 
C. Watson, who is now president of the 
United States Golf Association. The 
match was over the excellent nine hole 
course of the Mahopac Golf Club. The 
first hole is about 120 yards from the tee 
and the green is out of sight. The gal- 
lery had gone ahead and members of it 
called back stating where Kirkby's, Wat- 
son's and Whitlatch's balls landed. Then 
I hit mine. 
"It's on the green!" cried the gallery. 

Silence for a few seconds. 
220 



HOLES IN ONE 

"It's dead to the hole!" 

Another second's silence. 

''It's in! ! r 

"Travers," said Watson, "you're a rob- 
ber!" 

One day I was practicing putting on 
the green devoted to that purpose at the 
Montclair Golf Club. Near by was the 
regular eighteenth green. "Tom" An- Andersons 

Brassie 

derson, the club professional, took half ^^^^^ 
a dozen balls, went back about two hun- 
dred yards to a point from which he could 
not see the green and practiced brassie 
shots. Soon he came into the club house 
and announced with natural pride that 
out of six brassie shots he had holed one 
in one shot, two in two shots and three 
in three shots. After "Tom" had fittingly 
bought liquid refreshment for the crowd, 
it was gently broken to him that a mis- 
chievous waiter had sneaked upon the 

221 



GOLF BOOK 

putting green, placed one ball in the hole 
and assembled the remaining five nearby. 
Then *'Tom" said — but no, let me draw 
the curtain on the scene! 

However, it is only fair to "Tom" to 
state that during his long golfing career 
he has holed many a drive in a single 
shot. 
Wonderful Oftentimes a player makes a hole in 
p, the second shot under circumstances that 

give the feat as sensational a character as 
holing out in one. For example, at the 
Metropolitan Open Championship on the 
Englewood links in 19 12 Gil Nichols, a 
well-known professional, holed a second 
shot with a cleek at a distance of between 
180 and 200 yards. 

The most remarkable putt I ever saw 
was one made by Walter J. Travis at Gar- 
den City in 1908 during the second round 

of the national amateur championship. 
222 



HOLES IN ONE 

He was playing against H. H. Wilder of 
the Vesper Country Club in a desper- 
ately contested match that went to the 
forty-first green before Travis won. Wil- 
der had the veteran dormie, 4 up and 4 
to play, but Travis won the thirty-third Travis Was 
and thirty-fourth holes. Travis was , ^"^r"? 

•^ for Life 

playing for life because a single halved 
hole meant defeat. On the thirty-fifth 
(seventeenth hole) Travis's ball lay 
between two mounds on the putting 
green, each mound being about a foot 
high, and he had to make a twenty- 
five foot putt to win the hole. Either 
because he was stymied, or for some 
other reason, Travis could not play 
straight for the hole which was on 
the same level as his ball. He studied the 
shot a minute, then deliberately played 
up the side of one mound toward the 

hole twenty-five feet distant. The ball 
223 



From the 
Hole 



GOLF BOOK 

climbed the mound, ran along its rounded 
top for at least fifteen feet, then slant- 
ingly ran back to the level green again 
and rolled into the hole. 
Away On another occasion, when Travis was 

stymied at this hole, I saw him play di- 
rectly away from the hole up the side of 
one of the mounds. The ball ran part 
way up the slope, then rolled down again 
and went into the cup. 

Now and then holing even the third 
shot is quite as remarkable as holing the 
first. Not long ago an Upper Montclair 
golfer was playing in England with a 
British professional and his son. When 
they reached a certain hole, distance 
about 400 yards, the professional re- 
marked with natural pride: 

"I got this hole in 3 once — only time 
it's ever been done, sir." 

"Huh!" cried the American in jest, "I 
224 



HOLES IN ONE 

could do it in 3 myself if you would let 
me play without a coat." 

In England it is bad form to play di- 
vested of this garment; in America there 
is no taboo of the sort, and most Ameri- 
can golfers cannot play well when wear- 
ing a coat. 

"I'll lay you thirty shillings to one 
you can't do it in 3," said the profes- 
sional. 

"And I'll do the same," said his son. 

"The bet's on," replied the American, a Sixty- 
stripping off his coat. A long drive was ^^^^^^"^ 
supplemented by a strong brassie shot, 
and the American found his ball in front 
of a very high bunker, beyond which the 
green was hidden. Although the hole 
itself was invisible, he could see the flag 
marking it and he had one shot left. 
Taking his mashie he pitched the ball 

over the bunker, and when they reached 

225 



GOLF BOOK 

the green and found his ball in the hole, 
the sixty shilling blow almost killed both 
father and son! 

In golf as in every other game of skill 
there are players who are a bit inclined 
Munchausento draw upon their imaginations in the 
j^- ^ matter of remarkable shots, but now and 

then, even strictly veracious players are 
fooled by some mischievous person and 
believe all their lives that they have per- 
formed some extraordinary feat. Several 
years ago a passerby was standing near a 
certain hole on the links at Essex Falls, 
N. J., when he noticed two balls, one 
after another, land on the putting green 
in front of him. They had come from 
the tee which could not be seen from the 
putting green because of intervening 
trees and bushes. The moment the two 
balls struck the putting green an equal 

number of boys dashed out of the bushes, 
226 



HOLES IN ONE 

picked up the balls, placed them in the 
hole and immediately vanished. His 
curiosity aroused, the passerby waited for 
further developments. In a few mo- 
ments a very fat and dignified looking old 
gentleman and an equally plump and dig- 
nified looking old lady, attired in golf 
costume, sauntered up to the green and 
made a long, vain search for the balls. 

Finally the fat man casually inspected A Great 
the hole, then frantically beckoned the 
fat lady to approach. She did so hur- 
riedly and the pair, side by side, peered 
into the cup. 

"Great Scott! We both holed out in 
one!" shouted the fat man. 

"Great heavens! so we did!" screeched 

the fat lady, and plucking the two balls 

from the cup they started on the run to 

tell their friends the remarkable tale. No 

doubt they are telling it yet! 
227 



CHAPTER XXI 
THE ETIQUETTE OF GOLF 

EVERY golfer should be thoroughly 
familiar with the rules govern- 
ing play, and with the etiquette of the 
game. In the legal fraternity there is a 
Ignorance well known adage to the effect that ignor- 
ance of the law is no excuse. The same 
adage applies to golf. In a medal play 
competition, for example, how unfair it 
is to other competitors, who have strictly 
observed the rules, when some unin- 
formed or unscrupulous player fails to 
count all his strokes, or hole out every 
putt with the result that he comes home 
with the winning score. Quite possibly, 
too, he has soled his club in every bunker 

and sand trap. It is not only his duty to 
228 



THE ETIQUETTE OF GOLF 

know that such things are improper and 
cause him to incur penalties, but it is the 
duty of his partner as well to see that each 
penalty incurred is inflicted. 

A competitor in match play may con- No Genius 
cede a putt to his opponent if he choose, 
but one player cannot concede a putt to 
another in medal play or permit him to 
do anything else that is against the rules 
governing stroke competitions. Some 
golfers seem to have no genius for figures. 
They cannot count correctly and, unfor- 
tunately, their general tendency is to be 
one stroke shy rather than one stroke too 
many. The majority of the poor mathe- 
maticians are not dishonest. They have 
bad memories, or are a bit careless, and 
they soon outgrow the fault. Now and 
then, however, one hears of an occasional 
golf kleptomaniac whose passion for win- „ 

ning is so strong that, consciously or un- 
229 



GOLF BOOK 



Should 
Know the 
Rules 



consciously, he will take anything he can 
get away with. His fate is a sad one, for 
he is soon a marked man in his club. 

First of all, the novice should know 
and observe the rules. Second, he should 
be familiar with the etiquette, not only 
for his own pleasure but for that of the 
other players on the links. Golf is a 
gentleman's game and a golfer should be 
courteous, polite and unselfish. Some 
phases of the etiquette are intensely im- 
portant because they are demanded for 
the safety of other players. When a 
player selfishly drives before the pair 
ahead have played their second shots and 
are out of range, some one is apt to be 
injured. It is no joke to be struck by 
a hard-hit golf ball. Men have been 
killed by the ball. Other men have lost 
the sight of an eye. 

A well played golf stroke is a delicate 
230 



THE ETIQUETTE OF GOLF 

and difficult feat, and the rule of etiquette -0^«'' 

Speak; 

which States that no player should move Do„'t 
or speak while his opponent is making '"^ 

it, is inspired by the fact that the slight- 
est distraction is apt to spoil the shot. 
Incredible as it may seem to the reader 
who has never followed a very important 
golf match, I have seen two thousand 
spectators mass themselves several deep 
around the four sides of a putting green, 
and stand absolutely motionless and silent 
while one of the contestants made his 
putt. Following the stroke there would 
be a buzz of conversation, possibly a 
cheer or a clapping of hands, and then, 
as the second player received his club 
from his caddie and bent over to putt, 
the entire two thousand again would be- 
come as motionless as statues and as silent 
as a convention of the dumb. The crowd 

knew the etiquette and observed it. 
231 



GOLF BOOK 

Would Doubtless, had any member of it laughed, 
ave een gJ^Q^|.g^J qj. whistled he would have been 

Mobbed 

mobbed. The etiquette, as given in the 
United States Golf Association's year 
book, is as follows: 

1. No one should stand close to or 
directly behind the ball, move, or talk, 
when a player is making a stroke. 

On the putting-green no one should 
stand beyond the hole in the line of a 
player's stroke. 

2. The player who has the honor 
should be allowed to play before his op- 
ponent tees his ball. 

3. No player should play from the tee 
until the party in front have played their 
second strokes and are out of range, nor 
play up to the putting-green till the party 
in front have holed out and moved away 
from it. 

4. Players who have holed out should 

232 



THE ETIQUETTE OF GOLF 

not try their putts over again when other 
players are following them. 

5. Players looking for a lost ball 
should allow other matches coming up to When the 
pass them ; they should signal to the play- ^^^^ 

ers following them to pass, and having 
given such a signal, they should not con- 
tinue their play until these players have 
passed and are out of reach. 

6. Turf cut or displaced by a player 
should be at once replaced and pressed 
down with the foot. 

7. A player should carefully fill up 
all holes made by himself in a bunker. 

8. Players should see that their cad- 
dies do not injure the holes by standing 
close to them when the ground is soft. 

9. A player who has incurred a pen- 
alty stroke should intimate the fact to his 
opponent as soon as possible. 



233 



CHAPTER XXII 

"FIRST AID" TO THE GOLFER "OFF 
HIS GAME" 



W 



HAT a note of tragedy there is in 
those few words, "the golfer off 
his game." Possibly there may be a 
note or two of comedy as well, but if 
there is he doesn't hear it. He is the 
most miserable object on earth. A week 
ago everything was lovely and he was 
playing so well that he was shaking hands 
with himself after every stroke. As 
He Got a everybody knows, a "Birdie" is a hole 
mrate captured in one stroke under par, and 
didn't he get a "Birdie" on that long sev- 
enth hole only last Saturday? Of course 
he did. "Billy" Smith saw him do it, 
and hasn't he buttonholed every member 

of the club since and told him all about 
234 



THE GOLFER "OFF HIS GAME" 

it? No getting away from it — nor from 
him, either! 

A week ago he didn't have much re- No Respect 
spect for "Colonel Bogey," because the ^"^ ^'^'^ 
Colonel wasn't "classy" enough. It was 
an easy matter to halve him and not very 
difficult to beat him on quite a number of 
holes. A week ago "General Par" was 
the only mythical personage on the links 
who was entitled to respect, but the bot- 
tom has dropped out, the beautiful golf 
bubble has burst and it's a plain .case of 
"Woe is me !" The golfer "off his game" 
cannot drive, approach or putt, he 
doesn't know what the matter is, and he 
has completely lost confidence in himself. 
In this chapter I shall endeavor to give a 
few suggestions designed to assist him in 
getting back "on his game" again. There 
is a reason for each misplayed stroke, and 

every golfer who cares anything about 
235 



GOLF BOOK 

the game should make an effort to ascer- 
tain the reason as well as the remedy. 

Slicing A very common fault is slicing the 

the Ball i ,, . • r-r t 

ball, causmg it to curve away on to the 

right of the line of play. This not only 

causes loss of distance, but is apt to carry 

the ball out of bounds or into trouble. 

Eight different faults that cause a sliced 

ball, with the remedies for them, may be 

outlined as follows: 

1. Gripping with the right hand too 
loose or with the left hand too far under 
the shaft. 

To correct this tighten the grip of the 
right hand and turn the left hand so that 
the left wrist is more nearly parallel with 
the shaft. 

2. Starting the back swing out from 

instead of around the body, causing the 

club face to come across the ball, 

slicing it. 

236 



THE GOLFER "OFF HIS GAME" 

To correct this, endeavor to swing 
around the body instead of out from it, 
and allow the face of the club to turn 
away from the ball in the back swing. 
If the player go to the opposite extreme 
and get a pulled ball as a result of this When the 
change, let the club swing a trifle further p ,, J 
out from the body. 

3. Pulling the arms in toward the 
body as the club strikes the ball. 

To correct this follow through straight 
toward the hole. 

4. Falling away from the ball at the 
moment of impact. 

To correct this take a firm stance and 
have the weight of the body more on the 
toes than on the heels. 

5. Standing too close to the ball, caus- 
ing it to be struck with the heel of the 
club. 

To correct this stand a little further 
237 



GOLF BOOK 

away from the ball, with the toe of the 
club about opposite the ball in the ad- 
dress. 

6. Checking the swing at the moment 
of impact. 

Timing Xo correct this follow through prop- 

erly without the slightest hesitation. 

7. Starting the hands in the down 
swing before the head of the club is set 
in motion, causing poor timing. (By 
timing I mean perfect rhythm. Don't 
hurry the swing. If the hands are in ad- 
vance of the head of the club a slice will 
follow; if the club is in advance of the 
hands the result will be a pull.) 

To correct this be sure that the hands 
and the face of the club are in the same 
position as in the address when the face 
of the club meets the ball. 

8. Looking up too soon. 

To correct this keep the eye on the ball. 
238 



THE GOLFER "OFF HIS GAME" 

The various causes of pulled balls, and To Correct 
the methods of correcting the faults, are ^ 
these : 

1. Gripping too tightly with the right 
hand, or having the right hand too far 
under the club. 

To correct this loosen the right hand 
and keep turning it over in successive 
shots until the pull ceases. 

2. Swinging the club back too close 
to the body. 

To correct this take the club back a 
trifle more out from the body. 

3. Standing too far in advance of the 
ball. 

To correct this place the ball nearer 
the left foot. 

4. Standing too far from the ball, 
causing it to be struck by the toe of the 
club. 

To correct this stand closer to the ball. 
239 



GOLF BOOK 

Topping, Naturally, no golfer can see himself 

Sclaffing, play, consequently it is difficult for him 
Skying 

to discover his own faults. Hence the 

necessity of having a good professional 

or amateur instructor. 

Topping the ball is caused by lifting 
the head too soon, or by pulling the arms 
up at the moment the club head strikes 
the ball. 

To correct this keep the head still and 
follow through properly. 

Sclaffing is caused by standing too 
close to the ball and by dropping the 
right shoulder as the club face reaches 
the ball. 

To correct this move further away 
from the ball and endeavor to keep the 
right shoulder in the same plane through- 
out the swing. 

If you are skying your shots you have 

the ball too far in advance of the center 

240 



THE GOLFER "OFF HIS GAME" 

of your body, or you are dropping the 
right shoulder. . 

To correct this stand with the ball op- 
posite the center of the body and keep 
the right shoulder in the same plane 
throughout the swing. 

If you find that your putts are going 
to the right of the cup, you are either 
pulling the arms in, or taking your eye 
off the ball, or not following through. 

If your putts are going to the left of 
the cup your swing, instead of being 
along the line of the putt, partly de- 
scribes an arc as the club head ap- 
proaches the ball. 

To correct this swing straight back and 
follow through toward the hole. 

When you are "off your game" in put- Change 
ting, change your putter or stance. An ex- 
cellent way to regain confidence is to place 

the ball about one foot from the hole and 
241 



Putter or 
Stance 



GOLF BOOK 

putt out two or three times from this dis- 
tance. Then take the ball a little further 
away and go through the same perform- 
To Regain ance. Continue to do this, each time 

1 our 

f. r, going further away from the hole. Then 
take the ball back toward the hole and 
begin all over again, each time putting 
hard for the back of the cup, until you 
have regained your confidence. As I 
have already stated, good putting is half 
confidence, and by diligent study and 
painstaking practice you can acquire the 
necessary confidence and become a good 
putter, thereby learning the most impor- 
tant and also the most difficult part of 
golf. 

THE END 



242 



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